Family drama ‘Gullak’ on SonyLIV is back with its fourth season. The story revolves around the Mishra family, but neighbour Bittu’s mummy played by Sunita Rajwar is one of the important characters in the drama. Rajwar, who has been a part of serials, films and even theatre groups, credits her success to projects like ‘Gullak’ and ‘Panchayat’. In a conversation with IndiaToday.in, she also spoke about how popularity seems like a dream, as she comes from a simple family with no connections to the film industry.

Since the show revolves around adulthood and parenting, we asked Sunita Rajwar how different it was growing up back then. She said, “I don’t think we were so verbal back then. Be it relationships or any other issue, we couldn’t talk about it with our parents. Now it’s easier to have open conversations.”

When asked how she was able to convince her parents to let her pursue acting, the ‘Bala’ actor said, “Honestly, I feel fortunate in this aspect. I come from a lower middle-class family, my father was a truck driver and my mother was a housewife. They were not educated but were open-minded. They educated us in convent schools but when I realised I was an average student, I decided to pursue further education in Hindi medium. I always wanted to do something different but didn’t know what to do.”

During this time, she moved to Nainital for college, where she joined a theatre group. Through the club, she learnt about the option of studying acting at the National School of Drama. “I never knew acting was the way you could earn a living. Being in front of the camera was never a dream, I only wanted to act on stage. Also, there was no compulsion to score 70 per cent, just learn and perform. When I told my parents that I wanted to go to NSD, they didn’t ask me a single question. They never stopped me from doing anything and have always been my biggest support.”

Though she did not clear the entrance exam the first time, she tried again, this time her mother also prayed for her at the temple. She elaborated, “I come from a family where we were given the best of facilities even with limited financial means. We were given the hope to dream and the confidence to work towards achieving them. I remember I started doing odd jobs after my school and I was always given the moral support to be independent. That was the biggest motivating factor.”

And so, when she recently walked the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival 2024, Sunita Rajwar said that it was like a dream for her: “I was completely numb. I never even dreamed that I would be on such a big stage. As I mentioned, I never thought that I could be an actor in films or even serials. That is why it took me so long to take my career in the right direction, because I didn’t know what was happening. I never saw myself in this world. It was only after ‘Panchayat’ and ‘Gullak’ that I got good work. Honestly, representing a film at Cannes is still like a dream for me. It all still feels unreal and like a dream to me.”

However, Sunita also credits her father for her love for cinema. “He was a movie buff and would take us to the theatre to watch every movie. He would dress up like Amitabh Bachchan and Dev Anand. He would get his shoes made from a particular shoemaker. He was a fond man. My father would get his clothes dry-cleaned and bring home the VCR when it came from the market. He would often watch movies at night and I think that’s how I also started loving cinema,” Rajwar said.

Lastly, when asked what was the first thing she gifted them after starting work, the actress smiled and said, “Honestly, in our time, gift giving was not a custom. Buying us groceries or paying for our expenses was a way of giving something back to our parents. There was no special moment, but when we became independent, that was the proudest moment for them.”

‘Gullak’ stars Jameel Khan, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Vaibhav Raj Gupta and Harsh Mayar.