Actress Juhi Parmar , who was in Varanasi for the promotion of her teleshow 'Tantra,' spent some time on the Assi Ghat to be part of the mahayagya organised to give an auspicious start to the show. Quite mesmerised by the ambience, Parmar, who’s known for her roles in shows like 'Kumkum: Ek Pyara Sa Bandhan,' said, "This place has got a different vibe to it. It’s so pious here. The beautifully lit diyas floating in river Ganga add to the spiritual feel of the place. In fact, I am a very spiritual person. I believe in energies and karma, so I was really looking forward to my visit to Banaras." The actress, who will complete two decades of her career in television industry next year, says the journey has been gratifying and continues to be till date with roles in shows like 'Tantra' coming her way. "On January 5, 2019, to be precise, I will be completing 20 years of my career in television, and I am one of the few actors, who can boast of doing title roles, double roles, negative, positive, comedy and also reality shows. God has really kept my plate full always and I cannot be anything but grateful. Kumkum... itself gave me the opportunity to play different characters in the same show. The show, in which I was nominated for being a Meena Kumari, for the same show I was nominated in the Best Actor in a Comic role category. So, it was such a big horizon that I could cover in Kumkum. Then after that there were strings of title roles like courtroom comedy 'Yeh Chanda Kanoon Hai' and other shows like Shaheen. When I was offered teleshow Shani people used to say that you have such a positive Indian face that you will never be able to play a negative role but I proved them wrong," she says.Juhi Parmar at Assi Ghat in Varanasi (BCCL/ Arvind Kumar)Juhi goes on to add, "In that show I did not just play a negative character, I enacted both negative and positive characters together. Over the years I got the opportunity to showcase myself as an actor and I have nothing to complaint about."After two decades, Juhi says what has changed in television is that shows now don’t run for that long. "There are no iconic characters anymore. Now a show gets over and people tend to forget the characters name. In fact, they don’t even know the actor’s name. I am blessed that I did television at the time when I became a household name. The positive aspect of this change in television is that because the teleshows don’t run for that long, the actors get the opportunity to play something else, faster. So there are pros and cons of this change. With so many channels running different shows, there is too much choice for audience to watch and at the same time a wide variety of work for actors," she reasoned.A winner of various reality shows like 'Big Boss 5,' 'Comedy Circus 2,' Juhi said that there is a huge difference between doing daily soaps and reality shows. "While doing a daily show, there is an adrenaline rush in the beginning that settles down once you know the character. On the contrary in a reality show, the adrenaline rush keeps increasing every day, with every week and with every elimination. I do reality shows to keep up that competitive spirit and adrenaline rush in me. I totally love doing reality shows and given a choice, I would love to be part of them for ever."On the personal front, Juhi, who got legally separated recently from Sachin Shroff ending their nearly eight years of marriage says the experience has not made her cynical towards marriage."Ending the marriage was very liberating for me. I was in an agony for a very long time. The year 2018 liberated me and put an end to my agony. It was a beginning of a new life. A family that my daughter, my parents and I have made, we are a very happy family. My daughter sings this rhyme every day, ‘I love you, you love me, and we are a happy family’. I am happy that I am able to give my daughter an atmosphere where she can bloom," said Juhi.The actress goes on to add that the divorce has not made her cynical about marriage. "How do I have the right to be cynical towards an institution which is running all of our worlds? I have seen a beautiful marriage of my parents. Just because of my wrong choice or for that matter, wrong choice of two persons, one cannot form an opinion about the institution of marriage. We were not compatible and could not get along. We may have gone wrong but that does not mean that we live in that agony for ever. So I am not cynical about marriages. In fact, I am a marriage person and love the idea of being in a marriage. It was unfortunate that I could not get it but god has his own plans. There was probably a reason that this happened and I am still trying to look for positivity in it which, I am sure, I will find some day. The biggest gift I got out of my marriage was my daughter,"she summed it up.

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