The big leap

AVIKA GOR TALKS ABOUT BALIKA VADHU, HER BOLLYWOOD DEBUT AND THE LESSONS SHE LEARNT ON THE WAY IN AN INTERVIEW WITH SAMRIDDHI PATWA

- SAMRIDDHI PATWA

Avika Gor made a home in our hearts as Anandi from the hit TV series Balika Vadhu. She cemented her position as one of the leading lights of television by playing the second lead in Sasural Simar Ka. Later, she gravitated towards South cinema and made her Telugu debut with Uyyala Jampala (2013). Nine years after making space for herself in Telugu cinema, she came back to Hindi films with the corny comedy Kahani Rubberband Ki (2022) and was last seen in the horror film 1920: Horrors Of The Heart (2023), directed by Vikram Bhatt’s daughter Krishna Bhatt. She realised that acting is something she wants to do her whole life. She says, “I was always into dancing and always wanted to be a choreographer. I used to do stage shows from the age of four. So, the idea of being on the stage was something that I really enjoyed. I was approached for an ad shoot for some bank. I got featured along with Sachin and Supriya Pilgaonkar in it. I was so young but I still remember every bit of it. Because they were just so kind and so humble and so good with their work. I think they were the ones who kind of inspired me to continue with acting.”

When discussing her time on the sets of