Television often demands actors to respond to situations at a pace that leaves little room for extensive preparation. For Yesha Harsora, who plays Tapasya in Zee TV and Rahul Kumar Tewary’s Jagadhatri, working in the daily television format has taught her to rely on her understanding of the character and her instincts.

“Television really teaches you to be prepared for the unexpected. There are days when you get a scene, and you barely have time to process what your character is going through,” Yesha shares.

Rather than overthinking her performance, the actor says she focuses on understanding the emotion behind the scene. She believes that knowing a character’s journey makes it easier to respond authentically, even when the circumstances change quickly.

“In those moments, I try to understand the emotion rather than overthink the performance. I read the scene, understand what has happened to the character before that moment, and then I try to put myself in that situation,” she says.

Yesha also acknowledges that while an actor inevitably brings some part of themselves into every performance, maintaining a distinction between the actor and the character is equally important.

“A little bit of you will always come into a character — your body language, your emotions, your experiences — and I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing,” she says. However, she adds that she consciously steps back when she feels she is responding as herself rather than as Tapasya.

The actor also values the audience’s response to her performance. She feels social media has created a direct channel through which actors can see how viewers interpret their characters. “There have been comments where someone has understood a very small detail in my performance that I didn’t even realise I was communicating. Those moments are really special,” Yesha reveals.

At the same time, she believes an actor can’t let audience reactions dictate every creative decision. “I take feedback, but I also try to stay true to what I feel the character needs,” she says.

For Yesha, some of the most meaningful work happens in the smaller moments that viewers may not always notice. “Sometimes those moments tell you much more about a character than the big dramatic scenes do. I’m just trying to make it feel real,” she concludes.