Smita Bansal on embracing maternal roles: ‘It gets the most prominence’

Three decades into her career Smita Bansal still feels butterflies before stepping onto a new set ldquoI get extremely nervousrdquo admits the actor who transitioned from lead roles to character parts with Balika Vadhu 2008 As she gears up to play the head dean in 108 Base Hospital Uri Bansal speaks to midday about choosing finite television embracing mother roles on screen and why the medium needs a revampExcerpts from the interviewDid you take up 108 Base Hospital Uri because it is a finite showWe have been saying that content on television is becoming repetitive and needs a change for long I believe finite series have more to offer You get to work more on your character because you know the story from the beginning to its end and there is a proper graph The story doesnrsquot change every week because of TRPs It is also a challenge for the writers to keep the audience hooked for years When I started doing TV in the 1990s we had finite series and weekly shows Thatrsquos why I support different kinds of work coming inLR Erica Fernandes and Gashmeer Mahajani in lsquo108 Base Hospital UrirsquoDid that feeling become stronger after your series The Pyramid SchemeI shot The Pyramid Scheme while filming Bhagya Lakshmi My issue is that TV wasnrsquot offering enough weekend programming We have limited content during that slot But 108 Base Hospital Uri is set in a real space Even though it is a medical drama it focuses on the real challenges army doctors face rather than only the human sideWill a show that is different from saasbahu dramas work If it doesnrsquot who is to blame mdash the creatives or the audienceWhat will work and what wonrsquot is something no one has really understood When Balika Vadhu was made we had no idea how people would receive it until the first week Audiences become used to a certain kind of content so it becomes easier for them to accept it Even if she gets married several times or is kidnapped often the audience stays invested I think it is a collective responsibility to move with the times By the time a newformat show is launched and begins finding acceptance the makers have already decided to pull the plug You have to give audiences the time to develop a taste for something new They should also demand better content and reject stories that donrsquot make sense TV needs a revampDo you feel typecast in mother roles after playing leads initiallyWhen I moved to character roles with Balika Vadhu it happened organically Even after the leap the decision wasnrsquot difficult because the show was hugely popular Lead actors spend 14 to 16 hours on set and work almost 30 days a month I was entering motherhood and didnrsquot want to stay away from my child for long So stepping away was a conscious decision Therersquos a reason behind playing mother on screen After the hero and heroine the mother is usually the most prominent character in a TV show Therersquos also the factor of screen age After Balika Vadhu it would have been difficult for audiences to accept me in much younger rolesWhat did the workshops for 108 Base Hospital Uri involveOur producer Samar Khan comes from an army background so he made us aware of everything we needed to know Itrsquos not that we underwent intensive action training though Irsquom sure Erica Fernandes and Gashmeer Mahajani did that too We learnt army etiquette basic gun handling and combat We were also trained in how doctors and nurses interact in a hospital A doctor was present on set to teach us how to hold medical instruments and follow the correct procedures We also watched medical documentaries to ensure there were no technical errors30Smita Bansalrsquos years in the industrySmita Bansal on TV as a mother lsquoBalika Vadhu lsquoTum Aise Hi Rehnarsquo lsquoZindagi Abhi Baaki Hai Mere Ghostrsquo lsquoJaana Na Dil Se Doorrsquo lsquoNazarrsquo lsquoAladdin ndash Naam Toh Suna Hogarsquo lsquoYehh Jadu Hai Jinn Karsquo lsquoBhagya Lakshmirsquo