Kritika Kamra has not watched the original Chandrakanta and doesn’t intend to

Kritika Kamra, who is set to play princess Chandrakanta in a new adaptation of Devaki Nandan Khatri’s novel, has not watched the original show.

Kritika Kamra, who is returning on the small screen with Prem Ya Paheli, Chandrakanta -- a modern interpretation of the eponymous novel by Devaki Nandan Khatri -- says she has not watched the mid-1990s series Chandrakanta, and wishes to interpret the princess in her own manner.

Prem Ya Paheli, Chandrakanta, which will also feature Sudesh Berry, Chandan Anand, Ankit Arora and Abhishek Awasthi, will be aired on Life OK starting March 4. (Instagram/Kritika Kamra)

“As a child, I watched some episodes of the original series, which I don’t remember now. I remember the song and some characters clearly. But I have not watched it for preparation, because I wanted to keep a clean slate to interpret it my way,” Kritika told IANS here on Thursday.

“It’s a conscious decision to not do that as then I will perform that like that only. It wasn’t nostalgia that urged me to do this show. It was the fact that playing her will be challenging for me. I had never done a costume drama or a fantasy show before,” she added.

“The makers of this show have made some magnum opus shows like Mahadev and Siya Ke Ram. It was a gut feeling to do this, more than anything else,” she said.

Kritika went through a lot of training for the role.

“I had to make some internal (personality) changes for this role as she is not a girl next door, but a princess. The way she behaves, walks and speaks -- I had to learn that. I am also learning horse riding, doing a bit of action... Also, the language is a mix of good Hindi and Urdu. So I am learning a lot,” she said.

Prem Ya Paheli, Chandrakanta, which will also feature Sudesh Berry, Chandan Anand, Ankit Arora and Abhishek Awasthi, will be aired on Life OK starting March 4.

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