Gurdeep Kohli: The most important thing that happened to me was my first show Sanjivani

We still remember Dr. Juhi Singh from the very famous show Sanjivani: A Medical Boon. It was Gurdeep Kohli who played the iconic role and made her acting debut with it. The show was a huge hit amongst the masses and Gurdeep became a household name with its super success. Post Sanjivani, the talented actress did her best to stay relevant in the industry and dabbled with various kinds of shows. Currently, she is seen in Ekta Kapoor’s web show Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain which airs on ALT Balaji. Since the first season struck a chord with the audience, the makers came back with the second season and that’s keeping Gurdeep busy at the moment. As we caught up the actress for a quick chat, she spoke to us about her popular TV show Sanjivani, why she took up Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain and much more. Read her interview to know more details!

After your most successful show Sanjivani (2002), what all changed for you or has it been the same till now?

I am the same actor who is passionate and excited about my new projects and new work that I take up. I have been around for a long time and my iconic show gave me that throttle push that any engine needs and I got that. My viewers and fans have been there with me and I have done my roles honestly.

Your work structure has been little offbeat. You have done soaps, series, cooking show, dance show, and even a Disney sitcom. How do you still keep yourself relevant?

Whenever work comes to me, I think that will I be comfortable doing it and if I can spread my wings further on then I do it. By god’s grace, good work has come to me and sometimes my decisions have gone wrong too. A lot of time my roles have been liked by people. But the most important thing that happened to me was my first show Sanjivani. It became a huge hit. Wherever I went, people have followed me and my work so that I feel is something that has worked for me.

Do you believe in taking your work too seriously or taking it as it comes to you?

I go with the flow and the more pressurized I get, I don’t perform well. And if I work under pressure then my viewers won’t be happy looking at my work. So I need to be relaxed.

Has the pattern of TV changed in context to the content they produce?

Sadly, yes it has gotten more regressive. Lately, we have seen very few protagonists who are career-oriented women. Earlier, it used to be different. Even my role in Sanjivani was about a woman who has focus on her career and then she falls in love and becomes a wife.

What made you take up the role in Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain?

I am lucky that I got this role at this age of mine, somewhere an actor has to experience something to give that to the character. This doesn’t mean my husband is cheating on me, it’s just the maturity that I have about it now when am married and how it feels. If I would have played this role at the age of 29, I would be all dramatic and not real. But now I have seen such things happening around me and I know how to react to it. This has helped me to play my character and such roles are not played where the person is in grey roles and not totally good or bad. My character Poonam has moved on from her husband who’s cheated on her. She has a new chapter in her life and romancing again makes me feel like going back to Sanjivani days.

With OTT, has star power been affected?

Yes, it has taken a huge chunk of the audience and is feeding them with great content. It has been a good influx of good content especially for urban people who can sit back and enjoy. It must be also affecting films somewhere.