Aarti Singh: People knew me as Krushna’s sister and would come up to me for a picture, then ask ‘Who are you?

She has been around in showbiz for almost 13 years now, but Aarti Singh says it’s only recently that people have begun to associate her face with a name. While we talk about how insiders have it easy, the actor had her own battles to fight even as someone who had connections.

“Till some time back, I was known as (comedian-actor) Krushna Abhishek’s sister. I mean, people would come up to me for a picture, then ask, ‘Who are you? Which show have you done?’ I talked about my anxiety issues on national television. I was in a mall some time back, an aunty came up to me and said ‘My son relates to you because he has anxiety issues too’. I know I’ll eventually get respect for my work, but the respect one gets as a person makes them believe that they’ve achieved something in life,” tells us Singh.

Niece of actor Govinda, the 34-year-old further adds that the competition was “too much” when she had started off. 

“Sometimes, it’d happen in a public place or event, people would tell me ‘Madam aap hatiye’. It felt bad. Also, when it came to bagging roles, I had put on so much weight. Who’d have given me lead at that time? But slowly, I overcome it, lost weight. Then I got the show Vaaris. After that, people got to know me in the industry. Today, if you ask my standing as an actor, people will say ‘Ladki ko kaam aata hai’. It feels good,” she gushes.

Till date, Singh has starred in popular shows such as Devon Ke Dev… Mahadev and Uttaran, and she’s craving for good work with her only focus being on lead roles and nothing less.

“When I had started off, I wanted to do lead roles, too, but I was never an ambitious person and never thought I want bungalows, or do films. I just wanted to make a name. Slowly, I realised that more than the greed for such things or do good work, my greed was to overcome the inferiority complex inside me. I wasn’t behind money either,” says the actor, who was last seen in Bigg Boss season 13.

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