Actress Lekha Prajapati has said she owes much of her performance in the JioCinema web series Rafuchakkar to co-actors Maniesh Paul and Sushant Singh.

“They are extremely calm on the set. Maybe it comes with experience. Even if you just watch them on set, you can learn a thing or two. Being calm, being in the moment and trusting your craft is what I have learnt from Maniesh and Sushant,” she said.

Known for playing key roles in Disney+ Hotstar shows City of Dreams S2 and The Big Bull, Lekha has opened up about his role in Rafuchakkar, which is streaming on JioCinema from June 15. “I am a part of this mad, chaotic, fun ride. I play Vineeta Pathania, who is the daughter of Mr Pathania played by Sushant Singh. As you can see in the trailer, many cons happen and I am part of one of those. I meet Maniesh Paul and certain things happen that lead to chaos. To know what that chaos is, you’ll have to watch the show.”

Apart from Maniesh and Sushant, Priya Bapat, Aksha Pardasany, Aakash Dahiya, Trupti Khamkar, Chahat Vig also feature in the JioCinema web series. Asked if she ever felt insecure due to being part of such a huge ensemble, Lekha said she had worked as part of ensemble casts in The Big Bull, Class of 83, and City of Dreams. “But now I would not like to do an ensemble project and rather would like to do something apart from that,” she quipped.

She, however, was quick to add that there were a lot of pros in being part of an ensemble cast because of continuous creative exchanges.

Other than working in Hindi web series, Lekha has also worked in Telugu film iSmart Shankar (2019) and Malayalam film Kshanam (2021). She also features in the soon-to-be-released Indo-Nigerian co-production series Postcards.

Talking about her international exposure, the 30-year-old actress said, “Postcards is Nollywood goes to Bollywood. The series’ cast consists of Nigerian actors except for Rajniesh Duggall and myself. The best part of acting in Postcards was that most of my dialogues were in English. I hadn’t done a role like that before.”

Talking about her journey in the entertainment industry, Lekha shared some of the insights she gathered along the way. “Some people wait for their big break. I come from absolutely no filmy background, so I don’t have the liberty of focusing only on one project. It’s important to keep working as well as getting better at your craft. Do acting courses or theatre workshops.”

When asked whether it is disheartening to know that people recognise her as “that girl from that film/series/TVC” and not always by her name, Lekha said, “I don’t think I got that much time to think about all that. But it feels nice when you’re at an airport or a cafeteria, and somebody comes up to me and says that they liked my work. That itself is a victory for me.”

Lekha will be soon seen in the drama feature film Ikroop — it is being produced by Bloody Daddy director Ali Abbas Zafar and will be streamed on JioCinema. She has high hopes for both Rafuchakkar and Ikroop. “I really hope that they do well and get me more work. People know me by my face, but I want them to like my work. My character in Rafuchakkar is going to be something new for the audience to watch,”she signed off on this note.