I am very lucky that I get to play both sides of a coin: Gulki Joshi aka Urmila

An interview with Gulki Joshi aka Urmila / SHO Haseena Malik from Sony SAB’s Maddam Sir  

I am very lucky that I get to play both sides of a coin: Gulki Joshi aka Urmila
Gulki Joshi as Urmila from Sony SAB's Maddam Sir .

•    What was the transition like from Haseena to Urmila, a quintessential Mumbai girl?
•    I am very lucky that I get to play both sides of a coin. On one side there is Haseena, who, as you must have seen, is a very calculated, sentimental, well-behaved person and then there is Urmila who is exactly a hundred percent opposite of her. Urmila is bold, loud, energetic, also a mess but even then she always speaks from her heart.  Her quirky comments in between serious plots makes her so lovable. I live to play Haseena’s character, but Urmila has my heart and my laughs.

•    What preparations did you do to adapt to Urmila’s accent and mannerisms?
•    I was very excited to play Urmila as this is something I have been wanting to portray for a long time now. Very interestingly, I did not actually go through any special training to adapt to the accent and the mannerisms specific to her, it just came out naturally while reading the script and that is the beauty of the character.  

•    Has it been challenging to portray Haseena and Urmila at the same time?
•    It has been tricky. For my audience, I am Haseena as they have known the truth the entire time and at the same time for my team, I am Urmila. These are two very opposite characters and I always try my best to give my full attention to each character at a time. Naturally, it is a bit challenging to play both the roles at the same time where I must maintain the balance in both characters and justify the scenes. But I must say I am having a gala time playing both and it has been a very interesting chapter in my career.

•    What is your opinion on this whole track?
•    I am in love with this whole track as it adds so many different flavors and it has such a stimulating effect on the overall story.

•    Now that you have dawned a different character on-screen in Maddam Sir, who do you connect to the most?
•    I love Haseena, I admire her a lot. Personally, I feel more connected to Urmila, and I can say Urmila resonates with the real me.  

•    Maddam Sir is almost completing a year now, how would you say has your journey been on the show and with the team?
•    It's still unbelievable that Maddam Sir is on the way to complete 500 glorious episodes now. It is an unreal and surreal feeling which I can’t describe in words. It feels like just yesterday we started shooting in Lucknow and I think the journey has kept getting better and fun with each passing day. There has been a lot of learnings on the way and my love and comradery for the team has only increased. Going ahead, I feel Maddam Sir will continue to do wonders and woe the audience with interesting plot twists.

•    Maddam Sir has had consistent and extremely loving fans, any message for them?
•    I would like to thank all my fans for their constant love and support. In all seriousness, you guys have been very loyal to us even during the toughest of times and that has been a key motivation for us, and we have also been trying our best to make this journey as entertaining as it can get. Please keep pouring your love and please continue watching Maddam Sir.