Ritu Chaudhary Seth: I am really proud of ageing and I accept it gracefully

Ritu Chaudhary Seth/Instagram

Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Imlie actress Ritu Chaudhary Seth caught up for a conversation with mid-day.com, about work, motherhood and more!

After 23 years in the industry, what kind of roles you're looking forward to?
After spending so many beautiful years in the industry I am looking forward to potray some extremely strong characters. And for me positive or negative is not the criteria I just want to play strong meaningful characters.

Playing a character for too long gets monotonous, as quoted by some TV actors. What's your take on the same?
Yes, if you're doing a character in a daily soap on television and you're playing a character for a few years it does get monotonous. You have to continuously look for ways to reinvent yourself as an actor to tackle the character in such a way that you and the audience as well do not find it monotonous and boring to see you everyday on their screens at home.

What's that one genre you're looking forward to work in?
So far I've done majority of work for television, so now I'm looking forward to explore other mediums because of the style of working an the style if presenting ourselves is completely different.

As an actor, what's the one role you'd like to play before you retire?
It's not a character but it's a role that I want to play in a beautiful, mature, and unrequited love story. It is one of my dream roles. A role that has so many layers, many emotions is what I want to do.

One message to all the casting directors rejecting actors on the basis of their weight, shape and colour?
I think in today's time your weight, shape and colour really has nothing to do with your talent and the character is always larger than all of these. So I don't think the casting directors should have any say based on somebody's look because nowadays your it is your talent that speaks more than how you look. So I would request the makers and not only the casting directors to give people a chance based on their craft and not based on their looks or how many followers they have.

You have embraced and flaunted your grey hair like a diva. What message you intend to give out by doing the same?
I am really proud of ageing and I accept my age gracefully. I dress appropriately according to me. I don't have any problem with my grey hair I accept it completely, it's a part of growing up. I am proud of each and every wrinkle on my face and each and every grey hair on my head. I think it shows that I have lived my life fully, I have experienced every stage of my life and I completely accept those experiences as I have learnt a lot from them. Also I think people should not misunderstand that I will never colour my hair, if I get a character which looks a certain way that I have to colour my hair, I will definitely do it. But whenever I have a choice I'm really okay to flaunt my grey hair.

How did Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi happen to you? Take us through the journey!
Kyunkii... was a very great opportunity that I got. I used do a lot of ads when I was in college. Even though when I was busy with studies my pictures were in circulation then I got a job in Zee Telefilms. But one of the writers of the show got my picture and then he showed it to Ekta Kapoor and she called me in for an audition and one thing led to another and then Kyunkii happened. At that time I was really apprehensive about leaving something I've worked really hard for and trying out something new. But my mother and my husband who was my fiance at that time said that very few people get a chance to do something new in life. And you always have us to back you up incase it doesn't workout. And so did my bosses at Zee, they said that you can come back to your job if you don't like it. So I took a leap of faith and everything worked out so beautifully and I never had to look back. I am very thankful of the universe for giving me that opportunity.

You took a break for 7-8 years after you became a mother...
It was a conscious decision of mine that I want to keep everything aside and focus on being a mother to my child. I was caught up because of motherhood for almost 5-6 years. And after that I started feeling that I am doing so much but what am I doing for myself as an Individual. And in fact without me realising it my husband who said 'I think Ritu now is the time you start going back to work because I don't feel that you're unhappy but I do feel that you're not feeling complete.' He was there for me as a pillar of support, he used to take care if our daughter, do all the work before I come back and that's how I started working again. Yes when I was not working for the first two years I didn't really have the time to think but after that there was a void that I had started feeling towards the end of my break