Shveta Salve - she gives the impression of being a private person who handles celebrity status without putting on too many airs. However, her dusky sensuous appeal endears her to many a heart! Her foray into television was not planned but she slotted in well into the key roles of Tina and Sunithi respectively in Zee's serials Kittie Party and Lipstick. Meet Shveta Salve up close and personal! She has indeed come a long way from the days when she didn't even know what a "pilot" was!

Let us spin the take back in time when Shveta was studying in Mumbai's Sophia College. Her tomboyish attitude and passion for sports set her apart from the hoity-toity girls of the south Mumbai College. Shveta was always passionate about fine arts - even learnt Hindustani classical music and Kathak. Once out of college, she started modeling and managed to bag several commercials too.

At her mother's insistence, Shveta participated in the 1999 Gladrags Mega Model contest despite having reservations about her average height. She was noticed by those who mattered. What followed were some theatre-related offers in experimental plays. Shveta started moving around in the hallowed precincts of NCPA (National Centre for Performing Arts) and Prithvi Theatre.

Shveta went on to bag TV serial offers such as Hip Hip Hooray, Sansar and Khamosh Hai Kab Tak on Zee TV. She also played the role of a mother of two children in Sony's Dil Ko Kaise Samjahiye.

Shveta spoke to indiantelevision.com's Ashwin Kotian in between her shoots at Mumbai's Kamal Amrohi studio.

What kind of changes have you witnessed since the time you started working in TV serials?
Well, there have been some really drastic changes. I have learnt a lot on the acting as well as the technicality front. Basically, I love to know the "whys" and the "hows" of things - camera angles, lights, dialogue delivery, pauses so on and so forth. You can call it curiosity or inquisitiveness - but that is how I am.

My Hindi dialogue delivery has improved by leaps and bounds and I can proudly say that Hindi is my second language. I have also learnt the importance of perseverance and patience.

Earlier, I wasn't all that busy and used to shoot seven to eight days a month. Now, I am shooting from 9 am to 10 pm for nearly 25 days a month. We shoot an average of 10 scenes which is around 20 minutes. After all, working in two dailies at a time is challenging and demanding.

Of course, I have come a long way from the time I earned Rs 800 for acting in a Mehnaaz video and had to pay 20 per cent of it to the model coordinator. There is a hierarchy in place in the world of TV serials - but that also exists everywhere else.

What is important is the fact that people respect me much more. The treatment I receive now on the sets is much much better than what I used to get some years back. I feel that I have earned this respect by dint of sheer hard work.

Doesn't creativity suffer while working at such breakneck speed?
I believe that the pressure makes us more versatile. There is an underlying element of doing everything perfectly in the first take itself. Of course, it requires a lot of background work but you can call it a daily challenge. Having hectic deadlines is a part and parcel of working for dailies. Every day, there is a new twist in the tale and this keeps us on our toes.

Also, one learns a lot from one's co-actors and directors. I have been strongly influenced by theatre personality Akhil Mishra, who directed the first play in which I worked. I have learnt different things from all my directors in terms of giving the right expression, catching the light, pauses and other subtle nuances. In fact, all my directors have made a tremendous contribution to my repertoire.

Creative energy comes from passion and we are all passionate about our work.

Tell us about the roles which you are essaying??
I was pretty excited by the bold offbeat themes of Kittie Party and Lipstick. However, I was apprehensive that I would get lost amongst the plethora of woman characters which would be essayed by veterans such as Poonam Dhillon, Achinct Kaur, Deepshikha and Maya Alagh amongst others.

Producer Manish Sabharwal and writer Shobhaa De convinced me that the characters were well etched out and I would fit them to a tee. Their faith convinced me to put my best foot forward and it really turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I was on the road to stardom and popularity.

Tina in Kittie Party is a typical modern woman stuck in an eternal tug-of-war of choosing between what she wants and what others want her to be. Basically, she is just a young girl who wants to be herself and enjoy life.

However, Sunithi Verma of Lipstick is close to my heart. She is as focused and independent as I am in my real life. She has the guts to go ahead and do what she wants to do. Failure, for her is irrelevant. What is important is her urge to try. People sympathise and empathise with both these characters and that eggs me on to excel.

What kind of a response did you get for your roles in Kittie Party and Lipstick?
Recently, the entire cast of Kittie Party went to Benares for promoting the serial. The response was overwhelming. It is good to see that people in small towns are responding to the characters.

I just returned from London and even over there people recognized me. I feel that Zee's international presence has given us tremendous mileage.

All of us, including the directors and producers, work for nearly 12-15 hours day. We put in so much effort and the viewers have appreciated them. There are so many people who ask me about what is going to happen next. My characters have become a part and parcel of the daily routines of people belonging to different social classes - my maids and my driver amongst others.

What I can't understand is how the ratings don't acknowledge these aspects.

Can you tell us something memorable about your experiences while working in these serials??
Initially, I was required to drape myself in a six-yard saree while portraying the part of the conservative bahu in Kittie Party. Later on, I had to shoot those parts where I played the dual personality of the rebellious ultra-modern woman.

I remember the first time I walked to the set dressed in a short skirt. Everyone was taken aback and seemed shocked at my transformation. I loved the surprised expressions on the faces of those around. But they congratulated me and said that I looked fabulous.

Do you feel that audiences will get sick of the same old routine plots?
Variety is the spice of life. When saas-bahu themes came in, everyone loved them. With Kittie Party, we extended the concept one step further. If the same old routines are overdone, the audiences will definitely discard them. What is needed is change - in story lines, plots, characterization and milieu. Several producers have realized this and are making the right moves in this direction.

What else have you done apart from acting in serials?
I did a small cameo in Pyar Mein Kabhi Kabhi, a feature film which starred Dino Morrea, Sanjay Suri and Rinke Khanna. I have done music videos for Stereo Nation and Qurban remix.

Recently, I did a video for a song called Punjab for the album Karunesh. We shot in Jaisalmer and it was great fun. I love doing videos where I have to enact something totally different from what I portray in my regular serials. I tried my hand at comedy by acting in an MTV spoof on Fully Faltoo.

What are your future plans?
I have been receiving offers from producers who work with channels other than Zee. However, right now I want to concentrate on the serials which I have in hand. When I get offers, I always make it a point to look for something different.

The narration has to hold my attention and inspire me to say yes. It shouldn't reflect the shades of the things I have done in the past. Things do get monotonous, you know - after one cannot have many variations in the way in which one smiles or cries.

I have also got some offers to do "item" numbers in feature films. I have rejected them because that isn't what I wish to do. I am definitely looking forward to getting film offers.

Films have a wider canvas as compared to television. After a certain point of time, television offers a limited scope despite reaching out to millions of people. Films provide an opportunity to showcase one's talents in a "larger than life" manner. One can do a lot many things within the time frame of a feature film.

Tell us about yourself as a person and not an actress?
I am Scorpio and they say that there are three types of Scorpios - the eagle or hawk; the venomous snake; and the dove. I see myself as the high-flying hawk and I am not an extremist person. I am a good listener and enjoy picking up accents of people in different parts of the world. I like to forgive and forget.

I love to dance and sing - music is a passion. When I am not working (which is rare), I spend time with my parents and close friends. I also love to read and write. I can be locked in a house for hours as long as I get a chance to do the things I mentioned above. I don't get much time to watch TV.

I also shop a lot but don't seem to get a chance to wear what I pick up. I am a non-vegetarian and love Italian food.

Long back, a photographer compared me to "continental cuisine". He said that I was bland in an advantageous way - I could blend well with anything. As an actress too, I feel that I can blend well and merge into the character. My directors can extract different shades from me as performer.

What kind of a person would you like to get involved with?
The person I love has to be supportive and compatible. He has to have a sense of humour as I too have a funny bone within me. He must allow me to continue working as well as indulge in the other things I am passionate about. I should really look forward to spending quality time with him.