Pavitra Rishta: Ankita Lokhande talks about Sushant Singh Rajput, says ‘he will ‘always be the first Manav’

The second season of Pavitra Rishta’s web series is all set to premiere from January 28 on Zee5. Ankita Lokhande and Sushant Singh Rajput played the lead role in the original show. In a new interview, Ankita has opened up about Sushant’s character Manav on the show.

In Pavitra Rishta, Ankita played the role of Archana and Sushant played the character of her husband Manav. Sushant died on June 14, 2020. Last year, when Pavitra Rishta’s web series premiered on Zee5, Shaheer Sheikh essayed the role of Manav and in the second season, he will reprise his role.

In an interview with India Today, Ankita talked about how Sushant will always be the “first Manav” and addressed how people loved their chemistry on the show. “Sushant will always be the first Manav. The audience loved our chemistry. I think that’s why they miss both of us together. For our old audience, Manav is Sushant. That’s their love for us.”

Ankita and Sushant fell in love on the sets of Pavitra Rishta, which aired from 2009 to 2014 on Zee TV. After dating each others for around seven years, they went their separate ways in 2016.

Talking about her character in the show, Ankita said, “Pavitra Rishta is very close to my heart, so it was not very difficult for me to portray the role of Archana again. As an actor, you don’t distinguish between television or an OTT platform. You just do your best and that’s what I did. It’s all about teamwork. I thoroughly enjoyed working with everyone.”

Read More: Ankita Lokhande says she’s ‘not comfortable’ doing bold scenes after marriage: ‘Don’t want to hurt Vicky Jain’

Ankita rose to fame with the television show Pavitra Rishta. In 2019, she made her Bollywood debut with a supporting role in Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi. She was last seen on the big screen in Baaghi 3.