Apara Mehta, who is in the USA currently for the Gujarati play Partner Mast Toh Life Jabardast, shares, “We are here for seven weeks and performing almost every day. It’s a meaningful comedy with a good message. Performing here involves travelling by road for long hours but it’s totally worth it. Every two years, I tour the US with a Gujarati play. Sometimes, we perform for approximately 1,500 people, while it can be a small auditorium with 50 people on other occasions. It’s great fun.” Excerpts from a chat:

I have been acting on stage since 1981 but even now, theatre teaches me something new every day. It is my training ground and every show is challenging, as there is a new audience and there are no retakes. We rehearse for more than a month before staging a new play. I have done 35 long-running TV shows, but I never stopped doing theatre even when I was shooting for two-three TV shows simultaneously. While doing shows like Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka, Kyunki…Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Sajan Re Jhoot Mat Bolo and Jamai Raja, I was extremely busy but still, I did theatre regularly. I would have shows in Ahmedabad also and so, I would fly between Ahmedabad and Mumbai for 20 days in a month. God has been kind and all my plays have done well. On an average, I do about 250 shows of a play in a calendar year. U Turn, a two-character play, remains one of the most challenging but satisfying plays of my career. When there are just two actors in a two-and-a-half-hour long play, you need to be perfect on stage. The kind of effort you put in for such a play equals the efforts required for 12 hours of shooting. While it can be tiring, it’s creatively satisfying.

After COVID, theatre has to compete with OTT also and it’s not easy. While there is an audience for Gujarati theatre, people need to encourage theatre artistes more to ensure that this live art form stays relevant. As an actor, theatre presents some unique challenges and it’s not easy to understand and become a character every day. Sometimes, people ask me if I don’t get tired of playing the same character for so long. But there is a new audience every time and we keep experimenting too, which keeps us going. Theatre may not give you as much fame or money as TV, but it teaches you a lot and makes you a better actor. Surprisingly, the main market for Gujarati plays is in Mumbai. I have been lucky to be a part of the golden period of Gujarati theatre.

Apara Mehta, who is doing a cameo in United State Of Gujarat, says that she took up a Gujarati show for the love of her mother tongue. She shares, “I can’t say no to a good project in my mother tongue. Also, sharing screen space with Ragini Shah again feels great. She is a senior actor and like an elder sister to me.”

She adds, “I had also enjoyed doing Bachubhai (2023) because it was a very important character. Surprisingly, I haven’t been offered any Gujarati film after that. But I would love to do more Gujarati films if I get good roles. I am glad to see that the industry (D-Town) is in a better space now and makers should keep exploring contemporary subjects. I am in the process of shifting to a new flat and have been busy. So, I have become a cameo queen (laughs); I did cameos in Suhagan Chudail and Wagle Ki Duniya-Nayi Peedhi Naye Kissey.”

Talking about the trend of actors being cast based on their social media popularity, she shares, “It is wrong to cast actors based on their Instagram following. There are times when people cast based on their social media popularity fall flat on their faces while essaying a role. Acting is not as easy as people think. There is a difference between creating 20-second reels and playing a character on a show for a long time.”

Elaborating about the challenges TV actors face while pursuing OTT projects, she adds, “Unfortunately, makers of OTT shows don’t want to cast TV actors. There is this perception that TV actors are overexposed and also loud actors. It is not true. TV actors are popular and extremely punctual and professional; they can immediately grab eyeballs and do a great job when they take up any OTT project. I know that when I did Decoupled, the director (Hardik Mehta) had to really fight for me.”

Talking about her experience of doing OTT projects, she says, “Acting has changed over the years and while doing Decoupled, I had my share of insecurities as I struggled initially to make the necessary adjustments. I kept asking the director if I was doing fine. Acting on OTT is very different but thanks to my experience, I quickly managed to do what was needed. By the time I did my next OTT project (Staff Room-Teacheron Ka Adda), I was confident. I have a very expressive face and I am a very expressive person. But for my OTT projects, I had to tone down things a bit and unlearn a lot of things. I am new to Instagram and still not quite savvy with the medium. However, it’s wrong when people troll actors playing negative roles. They are just doing a job and a show is meant for entertainment.”

Talking about Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka (a remake of the Gujarati show Sapna Na Vavetar) which completed 25 years earlier this year, Apara says, “Apart from the great job done by the director and all actors, the show’s brilliant writing (Aatish Kapadia) was its biggest USP. We would first shoot a scene in Hindi, then we ourselves translated the dialogues to Gujarati (for Sapna Na Vavetar).”

She adds, “I have done 35 TV shows and I have been fortunate to be a part of some iconic shows like Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, which changed the history of Indian television. I also want to mention Anupamaa, which deserves applause for having a middle-aged female protagonist, a first on Indian TV. Apart from these, I think Balika Vadhu and Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah have also been iconic shows.”