Actor Simple Kaul, best remembered for her much-loved character Pam in Shararat, says confidence and an unwavering passion for acting helped her navigate her initial years in Mumbai. Coming from Ghaziabad with a theatre background, Simple recalls entering the entertainment industry with an unusual amount of self-belief.
“I was hardly rejected,” she says with a laugh, adding, “When you know your work, you have passion, and you go for an audition, you should enter with the feeling that this role has been written for you and you are going to get it. You need that fire.”
Simple says she never looked at another actor as her competition. “Your competition is with yourself. If you don’t get one character, maybe you simply don’t fit that role. You will fit something else,” she shares.
Her love for auditions continued even after she became a known television face. “Even after becoming famous, I would go for advertising auditions and stand in queues. People would look at me and wonder, ‘She is so famous, why is she here?’ But I loved auditioning. I wanted to observe people, learn and unlearn,” she recalls.
However, her journey wasn’t without heartbreak. Simple was once selected for Khichdi and had even shot three episodes before being replaced. “The channel felt I didn’t look Gujarati. I was heartbroken because I had already shot. When you are new, you don’t realise that anything can happen even after you have completed your work,” she says.
The experience taught her an important lesson early in her career. “Until your work actually goes on air, don’t celebrate too much. Anything can happen. Almost every actor has experienced something like this,” she adds.
Despite the setback, Simple soon bagged Shararat, a show that changed her career. “There was this fire inside me. I would think, ‘Just give me one opportunity and I will show you what I can do.’ I wasn’t only a glamorous face. I came from theatre, and I desperately wanted to perform,” she concludes.
