Exclusive - Shubhangi Atre on Shilpa Shinde's allegation of copying her in Bhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hain: I never copied anyone, was playing the role

Shubhangi Atre, who stepped into the shoes of Shilpa Shinde to play the role of Angoori Bhabhi in Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hain four years ago, has been successful in replacing the latter. The audience accepted her with open arms and have loved her ever since then. Shubhangi, recently joined ETimes TV for a live chat and opened up on the comparisons, her journey as Angoori and on Shilpa's allegations of copying her. The actress also spoke on how she balances personal and professional life and her changed equation with first co-star Kasturi's Karan Patel.

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It is difficult but we have to stay at home and it is most important at this point of time. I am missing being on the sets and shooting with the team, my friends and the normal life. I just want that time to return soon. So, staying at home is difficult, but we will have to control our mind and try to be happy. We need to keep our mind occupied in some or the other creativity. I like cooking, so I keep myself busy and cook a lot of dishes. Also, I feel this is nature's way to teach a lesson to humans that where all we have been wrong. So, what if we can't step out, we can spend the time with ourself and change a few habits.

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It's been more than 14 years now that I have been working. As actors we always crib that we don't get time for our personal life as we are quite busy. Now, when I have got time to spend with my daughter, I can recall all the memories of my teenage time as my daughter is a teenager. She is a very creative child and is fond of doodling. Now, her online classes have also begun. We play tambola cards together. We cook and exercise together.

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I am missing my reel family a lot. They are like my second family. I have this habit of personally meeting everyone on the sets and greeting them. I am missing my co-stars, technicians, my make-up and stylist people. I just hope this lockdown comes to an end soon and I get to meet my reel family and there is a balance of work and holidays.

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When you play such a popular character and you get so much love from fans, it also brings a lot of responsibility with it. Now, I think I will have to cautiously choose scripts for myself. Now, I am part of Bhabi Ji and it is doing well, but in future I will have to choose my scripts very carefully. Also, now that I am home I keep thinking that when I will resume shooting what new nuances I can add to my character. I have a friend who watches a lot of Bhojpuri videos, so I take a cue from her. I know now I have become 'Jagat Bhabhi' because wherever I go people address me as Angoori Bhabhi. I sometimes feel that people should call me by my name also, but it's fine such is the impact of my role.

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Honestly, speaking I didn't think too much. I just went with the flow. Agar main itna zyaada sochti aur apna dimaag lagati, then I would have never been able to play this character. I follow this motto in life that whenever you take up any work with full conviction and put your hard work into it, nobody can stop you from achieving success. Acting is my passion and I put in a lot of hard work and honesty, I got the results. When I was joining the show, people had a lot of expectations from me, in fact my family had stopped me from taking up the role. They had suggested to me that there will be a lot of comparisons. I remember I had three scripts in my hand that day and two were new shows, but I had a gut feeling that I should do Bhabi Ji and I went with my instinct. It was my inner voice and gave my 100 percent. I have done 1100 episodes and been part of the show for 4 years now. I feel so lucky when I get so much love and messages from fans that you should have played the role from the beginning. All these compliments are precious for me.

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No, I had no pressure, but I knew that I have a lot of responsibility on me. I knew one thing that if people don't accept me in the role of Angoori, I will be the one to be blamed entirely. The entire blame will come onto me. I would like to give the entire credit to our director Manoj Santoshi and Shashank Bali, our writer. They have written the character so well that I have never seen such perfect writing or direction in the TV industry before. The characters are so relatable. The credit goes to the makers of the show. I had this feeling that audience' acceptance will take time, but to my surprise I started getting calls and messages from Industry peeple and that motivated me. Also, after I joined the show I did not go on any social networking site for 10-15 days, that also played an important role for me to settle into the character. When I finally logged in and I saw those good messages, I was very happy.

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There was never a question of copying anyone. I was not playing Shubhangi Atre or Shilpa Shinde on-screen. I was essaying a character and it was written by a writer. I was enacting the lines, the mannerism that were told to me. Aisa toh nahi tha 10-12 mahine tak Angoori character ek tarike se bolti thi aur mere aane ke baad badal gayi... Angoori was a character. When Shilpa played the role Angoori used to speak in Bhojpuri and spoke wrong English and that continued even when I stepped into the role, it will not change, it cannot as we both were playing Angoori on-screen. I was not copying Shilpa Shinde. I made sure that there is originality in the role when I portray it and everyone can see it. That's why I got accepted by the audience. And it was not happening for the first time that an actor was replacing another actor. It happens in films also, here I replaced Shilpa in an ongoing show. It will continue to happen as not everyone can give such long commitments to the shows and it's absolutely fine. I feel everyone has his or her journey on a show and when her journey ended, mine began.

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I improvise a lot with my character. In fact, I have become easy in last two years and enjoy playing it. I am also naughty in real-life, so the moment I step into the role of Angoori, I start living it. I have added many small things to the role. I play with words as Angoori speaks wrong English, I add a lot to it.

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My co-stars were helpful Aasif Sheikh ji, Rohitashv ji, Saumya Tandon, Yogesh and everyone. They did not let me feel, even for a second, that I was new in the team. Luckily, the show Bhabi Ji is all about team work and there is no place for ego hassles and all, touch wood. They never let me feel alien. I knew Rohitashv ji from before as when I was shooting for Lapataganj, our sets were close by we kept meeting each other.

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I am very much involved in the character. In fact all the lehenga and sarees are selected by me. I chose designs and colour combination. I do my own make-up for Angoori every day. The jewellery, especially earrings, necklace, mangalsutra whatever you see Angoori wearing is bought by me. I buy them to make the character appealing. I want to tell you think, I am from Madhya Pradesh and I have seen women like getting dressed up in smaller cities. They wear matching bangles, bindi and they have things ready with them. So, I like keeping the character real. I purposely wear glass bangles and anklets to make Angoori look proper desi bhabhi.

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With the help of my family's support. My husband and my daughter they are my biggest supporter. My daughter likes watching me on television screen. She is my biggest critic. Lot of women think that once you are married, your career takes a back seat, but I feel you can start your career any time and at any age. I think age doesn't matter and you can always try and convince your family and I am sure they will always support you. For me I have been lucky that I have been able to manage things.

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The equation with him is very good now and we are very friendly. In fact, last we spoke on a chat show where I told him that next time when we work together I will make you wait and he happily agreed. I would like to tell you Karan Patel is a fabulous actor. I feel we had an amazing chemistry on-screen in Kasturi and people still talk about it. I have so many fans who still make video mix and send it to me. It's been more than 10 years now, but they still love the show and pairing. It was a very learning experience for me as I was very raw and new and I learnt a lot because of him. I was new to the city and even in the industry. Karan and I have become good friends now. When he became father and Ankita delivered a baby girl, I congratulated them. And hopefully, we will work together.

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