From Madhubala to Mumbai: Pallavi Purohit on roles, reinvention, and real-life lessons

Mumbai: For Pallavi Purohit, who is seen in Do Duniya Ek Dil, Madhubala wasn’t just another show; it became a space where work, relationships, and unexpected experiences all blended into something she still carries with her today. She said, “Look, in what Madhubala? My point is that when you are good, everyone stays good with you. If you show some negative trait of yours, then the other person’s behavior is also like that. With me, to date, it has never happened with any co-star that there was some unpleasant experience, because I stay good with everyone. I do mischief with everyone, have fun, and do pranks.”
“We all sit together and eat food, eat each other’s tiffin. So with me, like, I made very good friends for life. Aarti Puri and Drashti Dhami both played the role of my children there. And sometimes I am in touch with Raju Zutshi also. From every show, I have made some friends with whom I am still in touch,” she added.
For her, sets were never just professional spaces; they became places where friendships formed naturally and stayed. She said, “She has given birth to such a beautiful child. Her name is Leela; she is so pretty! And Drashti, I mean, I call her Red Bull sometimes. She is so energetic and ambitious. At the same time, in her personal life, she has also maintained it very well with that same energy. She is a superstar.”

Even today, she speaks about her co-stars with the same warmth and familiarity that comes from years of working closely together. She said, “See, Madhubala was a magnum opus. And such a concept had never come before. The film industry is so big, but people have never seen the film industry on TV.”
“I was playing the role of a junior artist in it, and I was pregnant. On the set, during work, the delivery was shown that I delivered the child. All that was a firsthand experience, which I had never experienced in any shows in the past,” she added.For her, Madhubala stood out not because it was popular, but because it allowed her to live a role rather than just perform it. She said, “Look, on TV, for me, actually, the struggle was very much with the language. I have wanted to become an actor since childhood… I called my dad and said, “I am going to Bombay. I don’t know what I will do, but I am going there.’” “My father came with me and arranged everything. I started reading the Navbharat Times loudly and went to Hindi tuition classes, so I learned the whole language from A to Z,” she added.Her journey to Mumbai wasn’t polished or planned; it was built on instinct, family support, and relentless learning. She said, “Rejection used to happen on this very basis that I don’t know Hindi.” But after learning Hindi, I gave auditions at Balaji. Within six months, I did Karam Apnaa Apnaa, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, and Kasamh Se. And while working, I learned.”
What once felt like a barrier quickly turned into momentum, shaping the early years of her career. “Sometimes it feels scary that it’s a very fast world. People have no patience at all. If you are showing a three-hour film, people don’t sit and watch the whole thing. Now they want one story to end in 30 seconds, 1 minute. Only this much patience is there in people,” Pallavi ended.