After television, Ridhi Dogra has been exploring other mediums. In the last couple of years, not only did she foray into the OTT space, but has also managed to bag interesting roles in films.

Ridhi, who’s been a part of TV shows like Maryada: Lekin Kab Tak? and Savitri, did her last fiction show Qayamat Ki Raat in 2018, before she took a break to make her web debut with Asur: Welcome To Your Dark Side, followed by The Married Woman. Given that some TV actors have taken a break to change tracks in the past, we ask Riddhi what makes this break mandatory.

“I think that’s because we don’t have the culture of agents in our country,” she says, adding, “Ideally, when you tell an agent about changing the medium, they guide you and tell you what to do. But, here you are on your own. It is your process, and you decide what you want to do, which requires time. I decided to work on myself and my craft and become a stronger artiste. I always say I am my own product, my own start-up, and I have always believed that whatever success I get, waqt se pehle na kisiko kuch mila hai, na milega. I believe in shukar and sabar.”

Talking about how OTT helped her get into films, she says, “I got my first film, Lakadbaggha, because of Asur. I give OTT a lot of credit. I have a purpose in mind about what I want to do as an artiste, and I need the means for it. I don’t know what I would have done if OTT had not come along. I think I would have changed professions.”

Excited to be a part of big-budget commercial Bollywood films like Jawan and Tiger 3, Ridhi says, “These projects gave me an opportunity to work with actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Nayanthara, Deepika Padukone, Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif and directors like Atlee and Maneesh Sharma. It was extremely gratifying to work with them. When you are on a journey, it’s nice to see these people, who have probably reached the pinnacle and are still grounded and authentic.”

Riddhi’s professional transition began at a time when she got divorced from Raqesh Bapat in 2019. “I was giving so much of my time and energy to that relationship at the prime of my career. I got out of the marriage and then shifted the focus on myself, which is why the change happened. OTT happened because I took charge of who I am. I consciously decided to stay close to my family members when I am in the city. I need to live close to somebody I love. Otherwise, yes, it can get lonely,” she says.

Is she open to investing in a new relationship, or does she want to focus on work? She answers, “A relationship takes that focus away from my work because I am a little too giving. I like making a relationship my centre. And I do it willingly, it is not like I am forced to do it. I want to crack the balance where I am able to give everything to my work and also my relationship. My relationship is not my whole world, and neither is my work… I want to strike that balance.”

“I am all about love,” says Ridhi Dogra gleefully, who has added a rom-com to her resume with Amazon miniTV’s Badtameez Dil. But it wasn’t only love in the air as the actor was juggling it with the shoot of the mythological thriller, Asur. While both shows were intense, the actor admits that playing a naïve romantic woman was tougher than playing a forensic officer. So, how did she straddle the two contrasting worlds? Over to Dogra as she talks about romance, roles and more.

Edited excerpts from the interview.

I don’t think love is modern or old, it’s a universal emotion and is always relevant. Love is not so much about the things we do, but it’s about the values that we carry into a relationship. Be it GenZ or millennials or boomers, the key to love is to have the right set of values — integrity, loyalty, trust, friendship and respect. I don’t think swiping left and right [on dating apps] is love. But at the end of the day, everybody is looking for it. We have all become thick-skinned, independent and strong, but I guarantee you everybody is looking for a pair of eyes to connect with.

Why not? Now, I’ve become a little too careful. But [earlier], I’ve made a fool of myself in love. I’ve seen only what I wanted to see. I see the good in people. I was just reading something that Oprah [Winfrey] said: When someone shows you the first time how good they are, why do you not believe them? Why do you have to see it 29 times to believe them? I give people — whether it is friends, colleagues or romantic [partners] — a lot of chances. I keep looking for the good in people.

We started shooting Asur a little before Badtameez Dil, and then there was a bit of an overlap. Barun [Sobti] and I have known each other for a few years. When we went to shoot Badtameez Dil, it was as if a portal had opened up — we were laughing and improvising. When we went back to Asur’s shoot later, we would crack up. But since we are both professional, we could [slip into the roles] in a few minutes. We shot both series in 2021, but a lot of work was held back due to the pandemic. It was a bonus for Asur; the team got time to edit it, and by the time it dropped online, AI became a relevant subject.

Oh, come on! I am an actor, I can never say this was better than that. I’ve always played strong, opinionated women who stand up for something. [During my television years], channels used to take us to tier 2 and 3 towns where I used to meet a lot of women and homemakers. Early on, I had decided that even if I do less work, I want to play characters that stand for something. That is the way I thought when I did Maryada, Asur, or even A Married Woman.

Badtameez Dil had a completely different lens. I have been around for a while, but I have never had a whole show seen through the lens of love. For me, this was more challenging. I have gone out of my way to make Liz [character’s name] look like she had body-image and self-worth issues. These were not said in dialogue, but reflected through the character. I wanted her to look uncomfortable [with herself], but a third person seeing her will find nothing wrong with her. If I am ever to do a rom-com again, I will do it only if I am able to break some norms with it. We have seen enough stories of women going from ugly duckling to a swan, and as soon as she became beautiful, she got the hero. But I didn’t want to do that.

After almost a decade of acting and making a name for herself in the TV industry with shows like Maryada: Lekin Kab Tak?, Savitri, and web shows, Ridhi Dogra has now started writing scripts. The actress says that while her focus will be on acting, she has taken up her interest in writing seriously.

She tells us, “I am developing scripts when I am at home. After being an actor for some time, you have an idea of what you want to do in the long term. Writing is second nature to me, it has been therapeutic and after a certain time in the industry, you know that you can tell a story. I am writing my own script. Ekta (Kapoor) told me that if you have something other than acting, pursue it, because an actor’s life is short-lived. I was always interested in writing and thought why not take it seriously and make something out of it. ”

Ridhi, who grew up in Delhi, says that her first script will be centred around the city and her experiences there. “I think your writing is a reflection of who you are as a person and your experiences. Delhi has shaped me, it has played an important role in making me the person that I am today, so there will be a lot of Delhi in the script. Also, I think many writers, filmmakers find Delhi fascinating because of its thriving culture and social scene. My story will be based on women in Delhi, it’ll be a voice of women in the city, it will have a message for them,” says Ridhi.

The actress adds that currently her entire focus is on work and in doing things that make her happy. She has even kept a low profile on social media and says that she doesn’t want to be a part of the rat race. She often corrects people when they address her as an influencer. She says, “I believe that if you do a good show that speaks volumes for you more than any kind of promotion on social media, so I would let my work do the talking.”

She adds, “I don’t want to be in any rat race. I don’t want to put any kind of pressure on myself. It is a personal decision. In the last two years we have lost so many talented people, we’ve seen them succumbing to that pressure and how people in our industry are pulled down. I feel that I have seen too many film stars who are put in a bubble by the industry, media and then pulled down. I don’t want to put my energy there. If it means it is going to be a longer route for me, I have no problem. I want to be like Zohra Sehgal, I want to keep acting, I don’t want to be dependent on how popular I am on social media. I keep telling people who call me for collaborations that I am not an influencer, I am an actor,” says Ridhi.