Meet the Indian Fatmagul™

Television actor Pankhuri Avasthy to star as ‘Amla’ in the Indian adaptation of the popular Turkish show ‘Fatmagul’.

It’s being touted as the official remake of the uber popular show ‘Fatmagul’. The Turkish show, dubbed in Hindi, made an appearance on an Indian channel last year and saw a huge fan following and massive TRPs. So much so that the channel played re-runs.

Photo By: Vikram JoyBuoyed by the response to the show and its theme of sexual assault, Star Plus is now set to roll out ‘Kya Qusoor Hai Amla Ka?’ the Indian adaptation of ‘Fatmagul’. And playing the lead of ‘Amla’ (that’s the name of the character in the Indian version) is actor Pankhuri Avasthy.

We caught up with the actor, who was in Chandigarh to talk about her role and the forthcoming show. For those unaware, Avasthy is a popular face on Indian television, having previously starred in shows like ‘Razia Sultan’ and ‘Suryaputra Karan’. She essayed the role of Draupadi in the latter.

“The show ‘Fatmagul’ has been aired in many languages across the world and that speaks for its popularity. In the Indian re-make, I play Amla, a girl from Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh. She is a simple, innocent girl who is sexually assaulted and this is her story,” explained the petite actor who had a tough time filming in Dharamshala in January this year.

Photo By: Vikram JoyHailing from Lucknow, Avasthy has been a thespian all through her school and college days. She has also studied at St Kabir School in Sector 26, Chandigarh for a few years. She admits playing Amla was truly a challenge. “For an actor, it is easy to draw upon one’s own experience to emote but it is really difficult when you haven’t experienced or faced a situation like this. The show is about Amala’s journey of realizing that despite her world being shattered with a heinous incident, all is not lost and there is always hope,” said Avasthy.

The show, set in Dharamshala, has been remade with Indian sensibilities by Purnendu Shekhar, Nandita Mehra and Bhairavi Raichura (24 Frames). Apart from Awasthy as the protagonist, the show features well established actors like Rajveer Singh, Anant Joshi, Rajesh Khattar, Akshay Anand and Kasturi Banerjee.

“The objective of the show is to sensitize audiences and society at large, to the trauma of the victims of sexual assault. ‘Kya Qusoor Hai Amla Ka’ urges people to foster a safe and supportive environment for the victims of sexual assault. The campaign advocates that society needs to place the guilt rightfully with the perpetrators by putting them on trial instead of shaming the victims,” said Avasthy who feels “television has the power to spark meaningful change.”

Interestingly, the channel has kicked off a campaign with actor Amitabh Bachchan to drive a conversation on the subject of ‘victim shaming’ by raising a pertinent question, “Whose fault is it?” The channel has also tied up with an NGO – Jan Sahas Social Development Society – which provides support to survivors of sexual assault. +