By Ila Sankrityayan

Mumbai, Jul 9 (IANS): Ananya Khare is seen as the ambitious antagonist Jwala in the show "Laxmi Ghar Aayi".

Talking about her role, Ananya told IANS: "The role itself is complicated, fun and negative at the same time and it has many aspects. I found it interesting. She is authoritative and at the same time she knows how to manipulate people to get what she wants."

On how it feels to play a negative role, she said: "It feels great because without negative people or characters in a story, it is impossible to make it interesting. Without challenges the story cannot move forward."

However, she expresses her willingness to play the role of a protagonist: "I would really love to play a positive role as it connects with the viewers very well. In fact I began my career playing positive roles like my first show Nirmala based on Munshi Premchand's novel. After that I played with many other pioneers like Asha Parekh, Mahesh Bhatt and many more in the industry. The major change in my life came when I played the role of Kumud in Devdas. That's when I started playing these grey characters and I believe that was the turning point."

Is there a fear of being typecast? "As far as typecasting is concerned, everyone wants to take the path of the least resistance. It shows that one has proven themselves in a certain area. People are comfortable with what you have done and viewers are interested in looking at you that way," she replied.

She elaborated: "The makers have the confidence in you that this person can deliver the best in this type of role as he or she understands it. So, when you look at a person it is easy to say that she is stereotyped in a 'bechari' kind of role or she is just stereotyped in a motherly kind of role or this person does only crime dramas or detective series or that person does only negative roles. But what they fail to realise that it shows that producers and the channel and audience expect certain things from the show and they like it. So, I truly believe it is up to the actor as to how he brings a change in the portrayal of his character to make a difference."

Ananya feels that directors are now experimenting more and coming up with different kinds of stories.

"I am happy that there is so much television work happening and there are so many platforms such as OTT where people are releasing their work, because the current times are giving more opportunities for makers and actors. So, it is good for everyone to have so many options today. Due to this even viewers have different options unlike the earlier times," she summed up.