The accidental Triveni

She hails from the beautiful coastal regions of Tulunadu — Padukone near Udupi. The pretty actress was greatly influenced by her grandfather Ananda Ganiga, an artist, while also being a part of rangabhoomi (local theatre groups), as she accidentally embraced acting despite having an engineering degree (computer science). Ashika Gopal Padukone, who made her entry with an imaginary flashback is debuting as Triveni on Star Suvarna’s popular teleserial Triveni Sangama. She is replacing actress Rachana, who recently passed away in a car accident along with another actor. Ashika shares her accidental journey as an actress, and how living the character of her favourite actress Rachana has been.

“I started acting in a minor ‘imaginary’ role in the tele-serial Niharika. This was when I was still pursuing my studies and hence could not take up any major roles. I accepted Niharika as it was a limited role, and I could manage a few days of shoot for the serial. Whenever the protagonist recalled her past, I would appear on screen,” she quips, adding that she later returned to complete her engineering graduation in computer science from Dayanand Sagar College in namma Bengaluru.

While she had no real intentions to take up acting, “It was my uncle Pradeep Chandru, also an actor and part of the serial Niharika portraying a father’s role who insisted that I take up a small role, and thus my small screen journey took off.”

The actress, who hails from Padukone village near Udupi, is now settled in Bengaluru. She believes that her grandfather’s passion and love towards the arts must have rubbed off.

Insofar as Triveni Sangama, Ashika shares that when she was thinking about joining an MNC after being placed after a campus interview, she received a call asking her to appear for an audition for the Triveni Sangama directed by Tilak. “I gave it a shot but had no hopes of making it through! To my surprise, I was selected. I am still not very clued in about my role. When I was told that I will be replacing Rachana who was the earlier Triveni, I was shell shocked, especially to learn that she was no more. I adored her acting and closely followed all her other tele-serials. I was a fan of her acting and mannerisms,” she reveals.

Further, Ashika says that she feels very close to what Rachana was portraying as Triveni. “I do not know whether it is pure coincidence when people tell me that I resemble Rachana. The director Tilak Sir and the cast and crew have been a huge support for me to learn and perform without much experience,” she says, adding, that her singing abilities after being trained in Hindustani music have helped her portray Triveni, who is an aspiring singer in the tele-serial.