Dhruv Bhandari and Sriti Jha at New Market. Picture by Aranya Sen

She plays a blind girl. He plays her impotent husband. Together, they are fast becoming one of the most popular couples on Indian telly. Dhruv Bhandari and Calcutta girl Sriti Jha — who play Yuvraj and Sandhya in Imagine TV’s Rakt Sambandh (Monday to Friday at 10pm) — were in Calcutta last Thursday to promote the newest family drama on the block.

“Any other rank newcomer wouldn’t have had the guts to play such a character in his first show. But I always knew that I wanted to do something different,” said Dhruv, dressed casually in jeans and a black shirt. On air for over a month now, the audience reaction to Rakt Sambandh has been ‘favourable’.

“Rakt Sambandh is not a run-of-the-mill-show where we introduce twists and turns just to boost TRPs. Every character and every sub-plot follows a logical journey,” insists Dhruv, the son of TV veteran Mohan Bhandari. Bhandari Sr incidentally plays Dhruv’s father in RS. “It is because of him that I took up acting and having him present at my first shot in front of the camera was extremely emotional,” says Dhruv.

While he would “definitely like to run around trees someday”, Bhandari Jr is happy that Rakt Sambandh came along. “I am here to act, no matter what the role is.”

Echoing Dhruv’s sentiments is co-star Sriti who plays the blind Sandhya duped into marrying an impotent man. “Sandhya never treats her blindness as a handicap. Her attitude is chalo andha banaya hai toh yehi sahi,” says the Calcutta girl from Park Circus, looking pretty in a yellow sari teamed with a green brocade blouse.

A character with multiple personality disorder in Jyoti and now a blind woman in Rakt Sambandh, does Sriti get naturally drawn towards hatke roles? “I really don’t work towards it consciously. I have just been lucky to get challenging characters every time,” says Sriti.

To play Sandhya, Sriti did a lot of homework. “I read Helen Keller’s autobiography and watched films like Sparsh, Ray (the Ray Charles biopic) and Scent of a Woman.”

Both Sriti and Dhruv are happy with the way the month-old Rakt Sambandh has shaped up. “Wherever we go, people are hooked to the show, especially to the Dhruv-Sandhya love story. It’s an auspicious start,” they smile in unison.