Pooja Banerjee: No medal for doing this

Kumkum Bhagya actor Pooja Banerjee on the joys of working through her pregnancy

Pooja Banerjee’s baby bump may be growing, but that is not stopping the actor from trotting to shoot every day. The actor, who has been playing Rhea Mehra in Kumkum Bhagya, hoped to take a sabbatical when she came to know of her pregnancy. “I didn’t know it was an option [on set] to act through my pregnancy until I had a discussion with the makers, who gave me the choice.”

Banerjee is grateful that the production house goes above and beyond to accommodate her requirements on set, but the biggest perk she says is “eating without caring about the added weight”. “It is new for the production house to have a pregnant artiste. So, they didn’t know how to handle the situation at first. [We had to navigate] the dancing, running, and falling shots creatively. They check my comfort level on difficult scenes. They alter scenes as much as possible.”

Coming from a family of working mothers, Banerjee says that she gets inspiration from her mother, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law who worked through their pregnancies. “My mother had been a working woman in three of her pregnancies. So, it doesn’t feel too out-of-the-world doing this. It is normalised in my family, but I can also relate to people who enjoy their pregnancy at home. You don’t get a medal or trophy for doing this,” reminds Banerjee.

Working in a long-running daily soap can be monotonous, but Banerjee doesn’t agree. Remind her about the innumerable kidnapping scenes in the show and says, “That is probably why the show is still running. But every time, it is a new kidnapper. I think my character has plotted about eight kidnappings, too, although I haven’t done one in a long while [laughs].” The actor hopes to take a sabbatical post-delivery to recover before getting back in front of the camera.

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