Archana Taide who has enthralled everyone with her performances in shows Maat Pitaah Ke Charnon Mein Swarg, Maan Rahe Tera Pitaah, Beend Banoona Ghodi Chadunga, Qubool Hai is presently essaying the challenging character of Sindoori in &TV’s Santoshi Maa (Rashmi Sharma Productions).

The girl who had taken a sabbatical from acting, blossomed as a writer in the last few years, scripting stories and setting up regional shows.

In an exclusive interview to Tellychakkar.com, Archana talks of her growth as an actor and writer, her new role and on her personal life with actor husband Ashish Sharma (Ram of Siya Ke Ram).

Excerpts:            

Tell us about your life experience in the past few years wherein you took a sabbatical as an actor.

I never took a break from acting. I can't even imagine doing that. I was waiting for the right role to come my path. I did not want to do something which I have done in the past. I wanted to take up a role which would challenge me as an actor. For the last two years I have travelled a lot. I have taken solo trips as well as few romantic trips with Ashish. Plus I was even writing and setting up regional shows.

How did you develop an inclination for writing?

I come from a journalism background. During my college days I had written and directed few plays too. But I never took writing seriously. It was ‘my darling’ hubby (Ashish) who made me aware of my writing skills. He happened to read my personal diary. After he finished reading it, he just told me one thing, "My wife has a writer inside her...I guess she should start working over it". This made me accept my new challenge as writer.  

Writing or acting – What do you like the most?  

Acting is my first love. Ek actor ke andar se acting ka Keeda kabhi nahi jaata.. But I enjoy writing too. Writing gives me the opportunity to travel in my imaginary world, create characters and then pen down their stories and make it a visual reality.

What prompted you to take up Santoshi Maa?

I was doing 9 days novena of Sacred Heart of Jesus and St Jude. During this period, I got a call from Santoshi Maa. When I was listening to the narration, my heart said, “just do it... This is the character you have been looking out for.”

Tell us about your character in Santoshi Maa?

Sindoori's character is well justified. She is madly in love with Dhairya (Ayaz Ahmed). I guess in order to get her love back, she will cross all limits.

Even though you haven't been acting constantly, you have not got out of visibility range. How did that happen?

If I wasn't acting, I was writing and producing regional shows. My concepts and shows have been appreciated a lot in the regional market and our industry is very small. Everyone is aware of what the other person is doing. Hence I guess I never went out of the visibility range.

How’s it working with Ratan Rajput and Ayaz?                                      

I have very few friends from the industry and Ayaz is one of them. This is the second time I'm working with him and the experience is simply great. I have always loved Ratan Rajput's work. She is extremely talented and a very good actor. It's a pleasure to work with such talent.

How’s life going on the personal front with Ashish Sharma?      

With God's grace everything is fine and peaceful. As days are passing by, we keep falling in love with each other all over again.

Do you take your tough decisions yourself, or seek for advice from Ashish?    

Ashish and I never take any decisions without consulting each other first. Whatever we decide to do, be it personal or professional we mutually decide and then take a call. We always listen to each other and respect each other's perspectives.

Being happily married, how do you now balance home and work? Any tips you want to give to such actresses?

I'm blessed that I have a very liberal husband and very caring and loving in-laws. They understand my work pressure very well and have always supported me. I guess as a woman, balancing work and home comes in our DNA since the beginning. We just simply know how to balance both the things. One tip I would like to share is, ‘Have patience and don't get over-stressed.’

What are your future plans as writer and actor?

I'm very bad in planning. So all I know is that I want to keep doing great work in both the fields.