Y. Sunita Chowdhary
Punarnavi was in the news last week for her ‘alleged’ engagement. She flashed her ring and social media was abuzz with the sudden announcement. Some were smart enough to see through all this and said it could be a promotional strategy of her up and coming web series CommitMental. She tells Klapboardpost.com, “I never mentioned I was getting engaged. I don’t think it is a publicity stunt but we wanted to grab the attention of the people and tell them it is not a simple web series. We worked hard and we are going to entertain you all with it.” Punarnavi and Udbhav are Anu and Phani respectively, the couple who are at loggerheads in the teaser. Anu is busy working on an assignment and her friend who is chilling out at an eatery alone, has logged into her account and reels out all the interesting comments posted on her and appears visibly amused. Anu isn’t pleased and doesn’t want to be disturbed. The web series will begin streaming from the 16 th of November onwards on aha.
Punarnavi looks back at her career that began with a bang with a movie called Uyyala Jampala. While the hero and heroine’s career was immediately established, it wasn’t the same for the next lead, that is Punarnavi. She analyses her work well and is honesty personified. She says, “: My journey in the industry was very slow. I was studying and went abroad for a while to do some workshops. After that I thought I must do Masters as I wasn’t getting any film and then I was offered Big Boss. It became a big important thing in my life. People saw me as an innocent and a cute girl in Uyyala Jampala. I would term the long gap as a boon and a curse as well. While I am being seen as a fresh entry and helping the project, it indeed isn’t very good that a lot of time had passed but now I guess this phase is important for many actors like me. Lot of avenues are opening up, and I see enough good work waiting for all talented artists. On my part, I never tried getting films with recommendations. At that time I was young and wanted to do a lot of things in life and mostly that lacked logic. I wouldn’t know if it would work or not. Now that I got a little recognition, I think I should utilise this to further my career.”
She participated in the Season 3 of Big Boss. Ask her if it was comfortable living with so many people under one roof and being under watch? “My lifestyle is different and so are my friends. I was unsure if I would hang on. The first three weeks I was stressed, sulked that I had no privacy but after the third week, I began living life on my terms. I didn’t want to pretend and lose myself in the chaos, I didn’t care if I stayed or left. The Big Boss does a lot to promote itself, they will keep you or leave you as per their whims and fancies. They want us to fight, just for the dramatics. I was shown videos of my friends backbiting which wasn’t pleasant at all after I was summoned in the secret room. What helped me after the reality show is how I behaved and how I took in it. I didn’t live off it. I took this as an opportunity, and I respected it and I passed through it. Though I got popularity, I stuck to what I wanted to do in life, acting. I didn’t lose track of myself post that, I didn’t want to be an influencer or a Youtuber,” she shares.
We learn CommitMental is about a commitment-phobic Anu. Her long-distance boyfriend Phani returns to India from the United States of America to surprise her and wants to marry her. She is wary initially as she doesn’t know him well but gives in eventually. There is a deal, rather an understanding to live-in first to test the waters but it isn’t all rosy. There is a fall out, getting together and a lot more. Commenting on that she says, “Aha has roped in a lot of newcomers, they gave us a platform to showcase our potential. Commitment is an offshoot of a remake of ‘The permanent room mates’ that was created by The Viral Fever seven years back. It is a story of a couple who have been dating for four years and what they go through in their life. The parents can also relate to it. Twenty years back, marriage is a big thing but no one cares. Some feel it is a touchy subject. Lot of people are understanding to live in couples and place their children’s happiness above everything else.
Udbhav Living in Hyderabad was always low key. A lot of people want to live with the best partner and want to show society that it is acceptable and it is fine. People are so independent in their lives and they think the main priority should not be a relationship but someone who guides you or simply have a hassle free and a smooth sail. I believe in it as I am a very independent person.” Finally she reiterates, “Every case is different, it is up to them, their choice. We shouldn’t be judgemental. We covered a lot of things in the series and showed and said what needs to be. Udbhav is my co-actor, he has a channel called Chicago Subbarao. Director Pavan Sadineni is too good and working with him was the best thing to happen to me. He is a director who improvises and is flexible to work with. The shoot was like a breeze. We finished it within a month. We worked as a team and worked hard.”
