Says actress Aarti Chhabria who made her fiction debut in Darr Sabko Lagta Hai

‘Karma always comes back to you’

Says actress Aarti Chhabria who made her fiction debut in Darr Sabko Lagta Hai

Aarti Chhabria has won a stunt reality on television and proved that there is no fear too great for her and now she has made her acting debut in &TV’s Darr Sabko Lagta Hai. This is the first time you are exploring the horror genre — how was your experience? It’s been outstanding and I have surprisingly enjoyed it thoroughly. I say surprisingly because I have never liked watching horror. As a kid I would always flip the channel if there was anything in the horror genre playing whether films or serials because it would scare me to death. In fact, when I was offered Khatron Ke Khiladi my mum would say, ‘you’re scared of everything, how are you going to do the show? You can’t even watch a horror film.’ But I decided to face my fears because that’s the kind of girl I am. So when I was offered Darr Sabko Lagta Hai I wanted to take my fear of horror heads on. What prompted you to take up an episodic show like Darr Sabko Lagta Hai? Honestly, the fact that it is like a short film. The concept of a short was completely alien to me till I went to the New York Academy to study filmmaking because for me films meant duration of three hours like in Bollywood or even two hours in Hollywood. When I started watching shorts, I went completely mad. Darr is not a typical series and I have seen the quality that & TV shoots and they are fabulous in production value. The whole marketing with Bipasha Basu and the way people have been talking about the show and whoever I told I was doing the show to, said it’s a great show and I should do it. I’m very wary of doing 500 episodes where I have to keep doing the same character. From movies to reality shows to now an episodic on TV, what do you prefer the most? I don’t consider this just an episodic because it’s one off. I think if I had to do this for many, many episodes I would have probably not done it. It’s just that the format of the show is such. But I haven’t looked at it like that. I haven’t compared one to the other and for me one is not bigger than the other but both are at par. I’m letting people watch me on TV after a very long gap. Have you experienced any paranormal presence? We were shooting at a very isolated kind of farm area and there was a scarecrow that was put up and I clicked a photograph of it. I tried different filters on a mobile app and the photo ended up looking so scary that my hands went cold. The mask used in the episode was also so scary. What have you been up to post winning a reality show? Actors usually have a short shelf life and actresses have even shorter. I entered the industry in 2001 and it’s been 15 years now. So I can’t really expect something magical in terms of projects. I have been getting a lot of offers but I thought it is better not to do anything than take up any stupid thing that comes your way. After winning the stunt reality show I did a dance reality show and I went to the New York Film Academy to learn filmmaking. I made many short films and musicals there. And for the whole of 2015 I have been putting all my energies into making something of my own. I have been evolving with every step — no good films, no problem. I can do a reality show. No reality shows, I can go to a film academy. So it has all been about growth for me. Lastly, Aarti ko darr kisse lagta hai? Burey karmo se darr lagta hai because karma always comes back to give you whatever you have dished out whether it is good or bad. Sirf achhe karm karo because then nothing can do anything to you.