‘I was not at all like Pam’: ‘Shararat’ actor Simple Kaul shares her memories from the show | Exclusive

Simple Kaul

Actor-entrepreneur Simple Kaul, who rose to fame as Parminder aka Pam from the iconic show ‘Shararat', reveals how she is nothing like the character in real life. She recalls the role being likened to Veronica from the Archies comics. Simple also speaks about her bond with co-stars Shruti Seth, Farida Jalal, Karanvir Bohra, and Addite Malik. She extends her work as the proud co-owner of not one but many restaurants in Mumbai. In an exclusive interaction with Mid-day.com, Simple gets candid about her journey in showbiz, taking the restaurateur route, and more.

Simple asserts that she did not drop her acting career for a venture in food and hospitality. The actress and her ‘Shararat' co-actor Addite Malik joined hands to earn money from something apart from acting. "We wanted to have a side profession so that we didn't have to say yes to any and every role. We didn't want to keep doing the same kind of roles. At that time there was no web, only film, television, or advertisements. If you want to aspire to do films, you have to be out of television for a couple of months or a year and you need a backup. All of us as actors must have something else professionally," she says.

Simple recalls the time the acting bug bit her. She'd dreamt of only acting and believed that without it, her life was a waste. "I would get dreams of running to Bombay (Mumbai) and my father chasing me. When I came here, he came with me. He said, ‘I'll not leave you alone. I'll be there till you find something.' I said, ‘What are you going to do?' He said, ‘I'll be your moral support'. I knew once I was in Bombay, I was not going to go back."

Coming to ‘Shararat', Simple reminisces that when she auditioned for the role, she didn't know it was going to be that big. Talking about her rapport with co-stars, Simple says, "When we first started, I was a little nervous. I was in front of Faridaji, she made me feel comfortable. She said, ‘Don't worry, relax.' This is what she does with everybody. Shruti was a big support. We all bonded so beautifully. We used to pull each other's legs all the time, especially Harsh (Vashisht) and Karanvir. Everything bad used to happen to Pam. They all used to make fun of me." That being said, the actress was known to take everything sportingly.

She continues, "I was not at all like Pam, I used to tell Shruti, ‘You are like Pam', I am more shareef. When I would take out my makeup, people wouldn't even recognize me. My director would tell me, ‘Bimar ho kya?' I used to wear lenses. And there was so much makeup. I would never wear clothes like that. They were too loud. But I enjoyed the character."

Simple highlights that ‘Shararat' has a very intelligent crew. "They were very refined, like from our director to everyone, unlike the normal codes of television. There were no abuses on the set. Everyone would speak to each other very politely. We would sometimes get an off on a Sunday and sometimes pack up by 8 o'clock. I don't remember I worked extra hours there," she says.

Simple, who has been a telly icon for years, reveals that she did try for films but didn't pursue it. "I'm not waiting for films. I'm happy doing television. I just want to act in whatever medium it is and I want to do good roles. I would act, leave for months, not work, and figure out films, but patience would run out of me, and then I'd come back. I would sustain with advertisements. Of course, you've earned a lot of money that you can sustain. But the boredom, you're so used to working every day, it is difficult not to work. You have all the money, but you still want to go to work because you're young, you have no reason to be at home. Today, if you're doing television, you can still do OTT. I mean, you don't really have to be out of anything is what I see. And today talent is much more respected. You don't have to be a good looker or, a certain kind of body or anything. There's so much work for everybody," she concludes.