Patralekhaa’s lockdown tales: Initially I posted food photos, but then I felt it wasn’t cool

The actor says while she’s not comfortable doing it herself, she is clear that it’s a case of “to each his own”

There was a time when actor Patralekhaa “hated” to cook, but the lockdown has changed that. As someone who grew up in a boarding school, and as a pampered daughter, she was always used to getting food on the table. Even when she moved to Mumbai from her native Shillong, she had someone cook for her.

“Suddenly (in this lockdown), I was like, ‘What will happen’. But, YouTube has been of great help. I’ve been cooking non-stop. I also find it therapeutic as I can get my head off a lot many things. I’m thoroughly enjoying it,” says the actor. 

However, she is quick to add, “(But somehow) I stopped posting photos (on social media). Initially, I did, but then I felt it’s not cool. Every time I check my Twitter or I read the news, it’s not great to see what’s happening around the world. So I stopped posting pictures.”

While she’s not comfortable doing it herself, Patralekhaa is clear that it’s a case of “to each his own”. She explains, “I also feel that people need to consume and see happier things. If somebody is cooking up something amazing, and it makes their fans happier, why not? Nobody is wrong.”

Besides cooking, reading, household chores, watching OTT content, working out, and indulging in her latest “guilty pleasure” Ludo, there’s something new and exciting that’s keeping Patralekhaa busy during this forced break.

She reveals, “I’m doing a series which has not been announced yet, and my prep has started. So, I’m doing readings with my director through video apps, and work is going on, touchwood! The fun part is that we’re doing all this, and we don’t know when it will start, when is this (pandemic) going to end and what’s going to happen.” 

On that note, she also ponders, “We always thought what the dystopian future is going to be like, right? When we watched films like I Am Legend (2017). We’re in the middle of that craziness. See human greed, where it has taken us.”

Talking of which, she also talks about feeling blessed to have her dog Gaga, who she says, “brings in so much positivity and happiness” every day.

While she prefers not to talk about getting this time to spend with beau Rajkummar Rao, we ask her about the haircut he gave her, an Instagram video of which became popular online. Patralekhaa says she had been wanting a haircut since before the lockdown began, and “couldn’t deal with it” before letting Rao do it. And she cut his hair for him too! “It wasn’t bad at all,” quips the actor.