You are from Calcutta? Everyone calls me Chitrangda Sen there! Possibly because I have a Bengali name.” The vivacious Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi actress is seated on the bed in her hotel room in a dressing gown. She soon has to get ready for a press meet for her first TV show, but she is in a chatty mood. Over to Chitrangda Singh, who’s a judge on Dance India Dance Li’l Masters (airs Saturday and Sunday at 9pm, on Zee TV). 

You came back in 2008; you came back in 2011.... Where does Chitrangda go away?

Please don’t say comeback. I am sick and tired. I am going to be the comeback queen, man. Let’s say second innings.

Third innings…

Stop counting (glares in mock anger)! Yeah, it’s been a bit of on and off for different reasons, which I do not want to talk about. (Her PR team had put in an advance request not to probe into her personal life, which has seen her marriage to golfer Jyoti Randhawa ending.) But I am happy to be back and doing television for the first time. 

One television show and two films releasing in a year. Suddenly it’s Chitrangda everywhere…

Honestly, I didn’t plan it like that. I had to take some time off in between for personal reasons. Somewhere sometimes your priorities change. Maybe there was a disconnect at that point. I am thankful that for the little amount of work I have done people remember me. Otherwise this is a place with such a short memory — you are gone for a year and you are gone forever. 

How is your calendar for the year shaping up?

I haven’t started shooting for anything. I will in August. Baazaar (with Saif Ali Khan and Radhika Apte) releases at the end of April. There’s a film called Soorma that I am producing. It has Taapsee (Pannu) and Diljit (Dosanjh). That releases in a couple of months and I am very nervous. There is Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 that is releasing end-July.

How is the experience of producing a movie?

This is my first time. But this was a story (of hockey player Sandeep Singh), which, however cliched it may sound, just had to be told. When I learnt about it, I thought this was a real-life hero standing in front of me. How many have made as many comebacks like that? I have a sporting background and I know how difficult it is. 

Will Baazaar be somewhat like The Wolf of Wall Street?

It is a stock market film. So it will show the ups and downs and how dirty the stock market can get. There are quite a few inspirations there too. Hamey kahin bahar jaaney ki zaroorat nahin to find a wolf (smiles).

You have studied child psychology in college. Has that helped you being a judge on Zee TV’s Dance India Dance Li’l Masters?

I don’t know. It’s about being a good human being. But I have a funny memory of myself as a child. I used to place my father’s photo and dance to songs playing on a turntable on LPs in front of it. It gave me a feeling that I was dancing for him. 

I did child psychology as part of home science. We had a practical course in the final year where we had to spend time with underprivileged kids to understand their psychology. You had to spend the whole year with one child. I got to know the family. When I graduated, the kid also came to the ceremony. Initially, I used to think: “What is all this?!” In college, you hardly take things seriously. But that experience taught me a lot.

Did you get any training in dance?

My father was in the army. Since we kept moving from one place to another, I could not get much training, as much as I would have wanted. As a kid I used to think I would become a dancer. I did learn Kathak for three years after school. But I did not pursue it. 

Are you a Delhi girl? 

I was born in Jodhpur and grew up in army cantonments in small towns. I went to a girls’ school. It was a protected life. I came to Delhi for college — Lady Irwin — which was also a girls’ college. But city life took some adjustment — the DTC buses and handling all the eve-teasing. I had to learn to handle myself — how to stand, how to manage all that, like you know, girls have to. There was neither enough awareness about such things, nor much fear of the law. Those were rough times. Otherwise college life was fun. 

So, how does it feel to be on TV?

I was not working for some time and haven’t been that visible. There was a disconnect with the audience. TV lets you build a rapport. For me, this was the perfect show. DID being such a loved show and such an old property. It is about kids and dancing; it’s such an innocent show and there is such an emotional connect. You can’t script a kids’ show. So it’s real. 

When the channel approached me to be a judge on the show, I asked: ‘Why me?’ They said they wanted someone to see it as a complete performance, not just the technique of dance. When we dance, the background dancers are much better. But it is about emoting. For the first time, they have got an actor on the panel. 

TV is a lot of hard work. In films you give a shot and retire to your van. Not here. If you saw my first episode, you would have noticed that I was quieter than I am in the episodes now. There was an initial hesitation. After six years, I will become as talkative as Marzi (Pestonji, fellow judge).

How have the auditions been?

There were 140 kids first. Then we brought it down to 40. We spent a lot of time even with the parents. It’s been very gruelling. I can’t even tell you just how much they must be believing in these dreams and how badly they want to be here and the kind of places they are coming from. A lady said she had taken Rs 40,000 loan as her kid wanted to be here. The kid is in the top 16 now. People say reality TV is scripted. But all the tears and sweat are real. It has been a moving and humbling experience for me. 

Have you figured out how to handle eliminations?

I am the kindest of judges! But the decision needs to be about talent. The kids come knowing they would be eliminated. In today’s age, it is very important to learn how to compete in anything that you do. 

In the West, they have junior soccer leagues with kids as young as six or seven taking part. You learn how to better yourself by competing. It’s a reality check about what you can or can’t do. And that’s how we talk to the parents. A social change is coming. All that protecting your kid, that mollycoddling needs to go, so they learn how to compete. One needs to know that a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is not the end of life.

t2: Is Jay (Bhanushali, the anchor) flirting with you?
Chitrangda: We have just started shooting together. But a lot of fathers (of contestants) come to flirt with me. That’s a bit funny!