Chartered Account turned actor and an aspiring I.A.S officer in the upcoming show Aye Mere Humsafar, Tina Philip feels she is reliving her student life on screen
Some individuals pursue their passion from day one, some might take a slight detour to chase their dreams and for some the universe conspires in helping them achieve it. One such challenging yet inspirational story has been lived by Tina Philip in her real life. Tina who has been cast as the lead in the upcoming show Aye Mere Humsafar on Dangal will be seen playing the role of Vidhi Sharma an aspiring I.A.S officer. A Chartered Accountant by qualification to now an actor by profession, Tina relates to the role of Vidhi and the struggles she goes through. Playing the role of an aspiring I.A.S officer gives her the feeling of reliving her Chartered Accountancy student days on screen.
When asked about her role in the show and how she related to it, Tina Philip said, “It feels like I am relieving my Chartered Accountancy student days on screen. There is an uncanny resemblance between onscreen Vidhi and offscreen Tina. In the show, I’m pursuing to become an I.A.S officer after coming to terms that I will not be accepted by society and finding an ideal groom is a far-fetched dream due to my physical disability. The simplicity, the self-awareness and limitations, yet the passion and hope Vidhi has to achieve her dreams of settling down and the struggles which come along, I relate to it first hand and it seems to be just so mystic.”
Sharing how she landed up pursuing her dream of becoming an actor after being a qualified Chartered Account, Tina shares, “In 2015, I was living in the U.K with my parents in the comforts of my home and a well-paid job. I had graduated with a Maths Hons degree from The University of Manchester, passed all 15 CA exams and was working in one of the top 5 companies in the country. It all looked perfect from the outside but ever since I was a kid, my heart was set on acting. I did theatre on the side in Manchester and enjoyed it. I however did not have the confidence to follow my dream professionally as I didn’t think I was pretty enough to make it. I was always the geek in school and never the popular beautiful one that guys were after. After a lot of deliberation and a heavy heart my mother reluctantly gave me the nod and I got the courage to quit my job and came to India to pursue a career in acting. I used my analytical mind and thought I’d make my way to Bollywood by starting off from South Indian cinema, just like many others do. I continued auditioning and was often rejected with a polite ‘not fit’. After no breakthrough in Cochin, I shifted to Mumbai and was ‘struggling’ as they call it for two years. My CA exams which were a mission to pass at one point of time seemed easier than cracking this. One fine day I got a break and saw myself on television for the first time. My Happiness knew no bounds and the feeling was surreal.”
Aye Mere Humsafar is a complicated fiction drama set in a powerful backdrop of achieving dreams before settling down in life. The story focuses on the unexpected marriage of an ambitious girl (Vidhi Sharma played by Tina Philip) and an unwise boy (Ved Kothari played by Namish Taneja) with no ambition in life. The show draws inspiration from the evolving times and its effect on relationships.