Abigail Pande on performance-oriented role in TV: 'You’re either a bahu or vamp'

Her energy is the kind that bounces off the set and lingers long after the packup call mdash Abigail Pandersquos costars insist Known for playing the quintessential good girl on television the actor is now shaking things up with Missing Priya a crime thriller that places her in the grey zone Calling the titular character ldquoflawedrdquo Pande admits that the goodytwoshoes women often seen on TV are far removed from realityAfter years on the small screen she felt it was time to chase more ldquoperformanceorientedrdquo parts starting with Ektaa R Kapoorrsquos new OTT app Kutingg In conversation with midday Pande discusses what drew her to Missing Priya why TV has grown monotonous and how she misses love storiesA still from lsquoMissing PriyarsquoExcerpts from the interviewHow did you come aboard Missing PriyaI got a call stating that Balaji is starting a new OTT app and they wanted to talk to me about a thriller show they were producing I have never done an outandout thriller before Being someone who enjoys watching crime thrillers I agreed If it surprises me as an audience then Irsquod like to be a part of it I liked how the story and character progress and the climax is my ultimate favourite That in fact convinced me right after the narrationDo you prefer playing grey characters instead of a positive roleI like characters that are not completely positive or negative because that is not reality Everyone has their good and bad sides which is why my character in Missing Priya is so interesting She is not a goodytwoshoes neither is she evil She is a flawed characterYoursquove been playing the adarsh bahu trope on TV for a long time Didnrsquot it ever get monotonousOf course it did No show comes with a guarantee that it will work or how long it will work for Seeing shows shut down in three months these days I feel it was better when I did TV mdash shows would run longer back then I love doing TV and playing the adarsh bahu It has a very home like vibe you go to the same set meet the same people and it is endearing Shooting for TV is every day so I miss that vibe on set On a web series you shoot for a month However I thought I could do better as an actor I wanted to play more relatable roles And OTT gives you that option to showcase things that you cannot ordinarily do on TV like violence or bloodshed I do miss TV and would like to go back to it someday but right now my focus is to do performanceoriented rolesHow would you describe a performanceoriented roleI like playing characters that are flawed On TV there is a lot of unrealistic belief about one person who is shown as all good and selfsacrificing People are not so easily categorised the world is not black and white On TV yoursquore either a bahu or a vamp but thatrsquos unfair to women because therersquos much more to us than just these two brackets that TV puts us inDo you think romantic stories are not being explored muchI totally miss romance This was something I really liked about TV because growing up we had daily soaps like Kasautii Zindagii Kay 2001 and Kkavyanjali 2005 Now everything has become similar You watch the same setup in every show I miss shooting and watching love stories I miss the time when everyone went above and beyond to make shows that were different I wish we had more originals than remakesWishing for lsquoZindagi Wins 2rsquoldquoI was hoping they would bring another season for the medical show lsquoZindagi Winsrsquo 2015 but at that time there was a lot going on with the channel Nowadays you only see family dramas everywhere I wish it came back I would love itrdquoWhen In selfdoubtAbigail Pande confesses that she too has doubted herself often ldquoI think we should normalise it Every actor is constantly trying to up their game on social media but in reality they are so lonely and insecure It is not a stable industry There will be times when you doubt yourself and give it all up but I believe that is when you keep your faith the mostrdquo she advises