It has been a long wait and just a week since Krratika Sengar has stepped into young Ulka Gupta’s shoes as Jhansi ki Rani on Zee TV. TellyChakkar caught up with Krratika to know how she coped up with the viewers’ rising expectations from her and the show… Finally, you have stepped into Jhansi after a long wait. How does it feel? Great! I have been waiting for this for a long time. Honestly in the first week I was nervous but the viewers have accepted me and the TRPs have soared higher after my entry. So it feels nice. How did you prepare for this role? I had to take several classes to learn horse riding, malkhamb, sword fighting. I had to physically prepare myself. However, mentally, I was anxious about people’s expectations from me. How has your experience in Jhansi been until now? The experience has been great. I know there were many expectations from me and I was under a lot of pressure. Ulka had started shooting in mid June and the telecast was in August. However, I started shooting in the first week of June and the telecast was immediately after three days. If Ulka had raised the bar from 10% to 50%, I had to pick the show up from there. But thankfully the viewers have accepted me and it has been great. Ulka had been the face of Jhansi for almost a year what was going through your mind when you stepped in her shoes? I was not nervous but I was definitely in two minds. I was not thinking about whether the viewers will accept me or not because that was not in my hands. All I knew was that I had to put in my best and work hard taaki koi baad mein yeh na bol paaye ki maine mehnat hi nahin ki (so that no one complains later that I hadn’t made any efforts at all). Were you following the show when Ulka was part of it? I was supposed to be a part of the show much before June. I used to follow the episodes but not on a regular basis. I used to catch up with a few episodes here and there to keep myself updated. What do you do in your free time? Not that I get any now but I would go for swimming every evening. I love hanging out with friends. I used to be travelling most of the times with them when I was back home. What kind of an impact has the show had on your life? I think the show has affected me in a good and a positive sense, professionally. When I was home, it was fun but now I have bagged a good role and I am completely focused on the show. However, it does get frustrating at times when you have no one around you to share your thoughts with. So I call my friends here to Karjat so that I can spend some time with them (smiles). What’s next in store for you? I cannot look anywhere else now. My complete focus is on Jhansi. We are living here and shooting from morning to night so am not looking at anything else now.