Ashvik — TV stars Rithvik Dhanjani and Asha Negi, as they are called by fans — will enact their real-life love story in the final episode of Yeh Hai Aashiqui, to be aired on Bindass this Sunday at 7pm. A chat with the couple...
ASHA NEGI
What is your role in the show?
It’s our real life story. We are both anchoring the episode and acting as us. This episode is our gift to our fans for all the love they show us.
You must have been an integral part of the scripting...
Yes. We actually had to tell them what kind of people we are, how we got together. We were recollecting those moments, the small sweet gestures for each other, the fights —we relived it all over again. For me, it’s the world’s cutest story.
What is it about Pavitra Rishta that both the lead pairs (Rithvik-Asha and Sushant Singh Rajput-Ankita Lokhande) ended up as real-life jodis?
I know! (Giggles) Must be something about the show. And Ekta Kapoor. Both of us are mad and funny. That connected us. When I started liking him, it was a bonus to go to the sets every day.
You tweeted about missing Poorvi...
When I was shooting for this episode, I was playing Poorvi in the re-enactment. So my hair and make-up were done like that. I really miss those days. They were the best days of my life.
We saw a picture of you sporting each other’s glares. What other things do you exchange?
I pick up a lot of things from him —his T-shirts, especially. At home, I wear his boxers too. Of course, he can’t wear mine.
Are you keeping your fingers crossed for a role together?
It will be a bonus, but it will also be a lot more difficult to work with him. I found that out while shooting for this episode. We haven’t worked together for a very long time. While we were shooting for Pavitra Rishta, he was the senior artiste and I was a newcomer. He used to tell me what to do and I would listen to him. But now that I have got confidence and we are together, I don’t listen to him anymore. So that tuning was missing. It could also be that because this shoot was only for three days we didn’t have the time to get back the tuning.
RITHVIK DHANJANI
How does it feel to be featured in your own love story?
I am extremely lucky that my real-life love story is becoming a reel-life love story.
Is it all facts or has the story been spiced up?
Masala toh hai. Itni lambi kahaani hai hamaari, you can’t show it in a one-hour episode. You need to make a film otherwise. They have compressed the story in a way that is entertaining for the audience. But of course, it has our real thoughts, experiences and emotions. I gave them the pointers and they fictionalised it and sent back the draft for my approval. The aim was to make the fiction as close to reality as possible. Hamaare beech utaar-chadhao jo tha that took a long time to get resolved. But here it got dealt with in a single sequence.
You are blessed with a great fan following. Can you share some crazy fan moments?
A couple of fans who are closest to us send us interview clips and cards, which is heart-warming. All the fans in the Ashvikian world are dear to me. Some have kept records of each and every detail of my life — dialogues, date of signing something, appearances, winning or losing contests... it is necessary to tell them how our love story happened.
On Twitter, a fan recently kept bad-mouthing Asha and pestering you to break up with her...
There are some people like that. One has to tell them to keep their personal feelings to themselves if it is hurting somebody.
It reached a stage when you had to tweet asking her to back off and then your fans gave it back to her!
My fans are a close-knit family. They have our back. We know we have so many people with us. They don’t try to intervene in our lives. We are ourselves. We do not pretend. That must be what makes us click with our fans.
Sudeshna Banerjee
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