Not easy being a soap star...
She was born in a tiny city somewhere in Maharashtra. Daughter of an Army man, she went to schools across the country, finally settling for a college education in Pune, an MBA, and a job as a Human Resource consultant. The building she worked in happened to house an advertising agency though, and, one morning, she was coerced into doing a commercial for Pears soap.
That was over four years ago.
Today, far from her quiet, corporate past, Sampada Vaze is a face gaining recognition on the small screen. After playing lead character Minakshi Pillai in the unusual soap Pyar Ki Kashti Mein set aboard a cruise liner, she now tackles the part of Tejaswini in Sony Entertainment Television's family drama Rishton Ki Dorr.
We knew it couldn't be easy, living the life of a soap star. What we weren't prepared for was how hard it really is. As Sampada gears up for what will definitely be a tiring day of shooting, we crouch behind her in the make-up room, recorder and camera in hand.
Long hours, back-to-back shifts, poor medical facilities, the casting couch -- who would have thought these tales lay behind all that glitz and glamour?
Interview: Patcy N | Photographs on set: Jewella C Miranda