In an interview with Zoom, Helly shared that while she got to know her character’s backstory, she didn’t have to give much input because the writing of the show was already so strong. She said, “Like 90-95 per cent of the things is what you see on paper. And 5-10 per cent on set or during readings, you tweak a couple of things here and there. Apart from just the Mishra family, it was also happening for the first time that people would get to see something new. It’s a love story, a side track, a plot that no one had ever seen in the entire Gullak universe.”
The actress felt the romance between Annu and Preeti was organic. She praised her co-star and shared that it was a treat to work with him. The co-stars are reuniting later on another show, the Netflix comedy Chumbak, sometime this year. When it was time to work on a key scene with other co-stars, Helly felt a bit nervous and later wondered why she became intimidated, as she was a fan of them all.
Gullak Season 5
She recalled, “My scene was for the first time with Geetanjali ma’am, Jameel sir and Sunita ma’am. Obviously, I’ve met them at parties or in awards. But I was nervous on that day. I did tell them. I was like, I’m a little nervous. I don’t know why. So, Geetanjali ma’am was like, ‘You don’t have to be nervous. It’s good. You don’t have to do anything.’ So I get a little nervous for a brief period of time. Then I get fine. It hits me and then it leaves.”
Helly Shah on future Gullak storylines
Now that the series has ventured down the romance storyline for her character Preeti and Anant’s Annu, the actress was asked about where she would like to see the couple go. Helly shared, “I think I want them to have a mature conversation and just handle it nicely. And at the same time, Preeti to give Annu that space to grow and evolve as an individual also. Because she’s also somebody who’s trying to figure things out in her life, and so is Annu. I think both of them should eventually make their own lives first.”