Alia Bhatt’s doppelganger Celesti Bairagey is all set to make her television debut with the show Rajjo. Days after a video of Celesti had gone viral after she dressed up like Alia from the promotions of Gangubai Kathiawadi, she bagged her first show. The Free Press Journal caught up with the actress for an exclusive chat.
Celesti admires Alia a lot. “Alia is an amazing actress. I find her very cute. So when someone says I resemble her, it feels good. However, I don’t want people to know me because of someone else. Right now, my focus and energy are on making my name and my identity,” she says.
On making her debut with Rajjo, she gushes, “It feels amazing that I've got such a big show. Working on Rajjo is a great privilege and I consider myself very lucky. Whenever something good happens in life, your first reaction is — ‘Oh my God, did this really happen?’ That was my first reaction when I was offered the show. It was too good to be true.”
Opening up about her role, Celesti shares, “I’m playing Rajjo who is an athlete and the daughter of a fisherwoman. They are struggling for the basic amenities in life because they are very poor. When someone comes from such an underprivileged background, dreaming about sports as a career option is a big thing. The show showcases Rajjo's journey from a small pahadi village to a big city like Lucknow, where she fulfils her dream.”
Celesti did quite a few things to prepare for her role. “Firstly, I had to work on the language because pahadi Hindi is very different and there are certain words which I have to pronounce differently. I had to eliminate English from my vocabulary, which was challenging. I also had to undergo some physical challenges. I had never ever been on a harness. Also, I knew basic swimming but I am not a pro. I got to try scuba diving,” she reveals.
The actress was awestruck when she first came to Mumbai. “I came here for the first time for my audition. I landed around 1:30 am and the city looked beautiful. When I was on my way to the hotel, I was awestruck seeing the buildings and skyscrapers. I wondered how people stay in such buildings (laughs). I'm really liking Mumbai a lot. There were some difficulties initially as I wasn't getting a place to stay but then my production helped me find a place,” she recalls.
Celesti shares a beautiful thing that happened to her in Mumbai. “I was waiting for an auto to come to the set. The promo of the show was launched at that time. No one was ready to go to Kashigaon but then after quite a long time, an autowala came and agreed to drop me. He asked me, 'Aap Rajjo ho na?' and it was so sweet. He then video-called his daughters. That was very nice and sweet. In Assam, people used to recognise me and come for selfies but something like that happened for the first time in Mumbai,” she signs off.
