Patralekhaa On ‘Aar Ya Paar’: My Character Had A Great Arc And Shades To It, Which Was Exciting For Me

'Aar Ya Paar', the action drama series on Disney+Hotstar, revolves around the events that follow after the tribe is attacked by greedy humans in search of a priced natural resource. It stars Aditya Rawal, Patralekha, Sumeet Vyas, Ashish Vidyarthi, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Aasif Sheikh, Shilpa Shukla, Varun Bhagat and Nakul Sehdev. The show is created by Sidharth Sengupta.

While Paresh Rawal’s son Aditya Rawal plays Sarju, a tribal man who is fighting for the survival of his tribe against the modern world, Patralekha is seen as Sanghamitra, who is a doctor. 

Speaking to Outlook, Patralekha opened up how she landed the role and how she approached it once she got on board. 

“I auditioned for the role, and Abhishek Banerjee from Casting Bay called me up. I got a call back in a week's time about getting a role. I asked them to send me a script or story that they have. When they did, I found that really interesting because the story was unique to Indian platforms so far. That was exciting for me. I had also watched ‘Undekhi’ during the lockdown, and I loved it. With Sidharth Sengupta creating the show, it was a no-brainer for me that I had to do it. When he narrated the story and told me the character, I was sure that it would be a great opportunity for me. I had not done anything like this before or played a doctor. My character Sanghamitra has shades and a great arc to it,” she said. 

As for the preparation, the actress added, “I met Sidharth sir a couple of times, we made up a backstory about it. There was a particular dialect that these tribes have, so I had to get it right.”

Showering praise on Aditya and Dibyendu, with whom she shared the most screen space in the show, Patralekha said, Every project is a learning experience as everyone on the set is giving their best foot forward. Similarly, I had a great time with Aditya and Dibyendu. Aditya is new so he has a fresh energy, so I had to take that back home. Dibyendu is a seasoned actor, and for him, it has to be about the scene more than anything.”

She signed off by asserting that OTT has become synonymous with content that mainstream cinema won't pick often. “Yes, at the moment, it looks like that. We are humans, and evolution is constant. So everything keeps changing. But for now, yes,” she said. 

Produced by Jyoti Sagar and Sidharth Sengupta's Edgestorm Ventures LLP and directed by Glen Baretto, Ankush Mohla and Neel Guha. ‘Aar Ya Paar’ started streaming from December 30, 2022.