A well-known actress, Archana Puran Singh, might have been living in Mumbai for decades, but her heart is still in her hometown Dehradun. The Miss Braganza of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Comedy Nights With Kapil fame actress, whose career has spanned four long decades in the entertainment industry, talks about her 'favourite city in the world' Doon in an exclusive chat with us as we celebrate the anniversary of Doon Times. Excerpts...
What are your earliest memories of Dehradun?
Some of my earliest memories of my hometown are going shopping with mom and dad in Paltan Bazar or a shop called Novelty at Clock Tower where dad would often stop to pick knick-knacks for the house. Elloras was where my sister and I would go every day to buy our pastries; then we would head to Newlite, a comic book store where we would pick up our ‘treasure’ of comics and storybooks, and then we would head home to devour both with a pleasure that I believe can only be experienced in childhood.
Summers were spent in Mussoorie. We had an orchard there called St George’s Estate, locally it was called Hathipaon since it had a mountain peak that resembled an elephant’s foot. We would also make a frequent long trek from Hathipaon to Mussoorie Mall Road to skate, watch movies at Rialto and Brij and Picture Palace, and enjoy the famous dances and the ‘nights’ held at Whispering Windows at Library Chowk or Tavern near Picture Palace.
Very little is known about your childhood, please share some memories of it with us. About your time in Doon, the school and colleges you studied in.
I studied at the Convent of Jesus and Mary near Parade Ground from the I standard onwards till the XI. I was lucky enough to be able to stand first in every examination by studying only at the last minute. But I never could wrap my head around Mathematics and excelled only in subjects like History, English and Geography. The nuns didn’t take too lightly the fact that I was often mischievous and the teachers, though they loved me for being a good student academically, would complain that I wasn’t doing justice to my abilities. Years later one teacher looked at me on the cover of a popular film magazine and sighed ‘You could have been an IAS or IFS officer... and you chose to go into the movies?’ Such was their collective belief that I could have done something more worthy of my talents! However many of those who taught me have passed away and I regret not being able to thank them enough for the knowledge they imparted to me, their patience in dealing with me, and their wonderful contribution to who I am today. I remember my teachers in school with much love and gratitude, especially our Hindi teacher Mrs Pabra and my English/ Geography teacher HP Sharma who instilled in me a love for the English Language and made me fall in love with Geography because he taught it to us with so much passion and dedication.
After finishing my 11th standard, I then went on to study Literature in English at Lady Shri Ram College where I stayed in the hostel on campus. I didn’t love staying in the hostel initially as I missed home and I had never been away from my beloved Doon before. So I wrote to my father to let me come back home. Wisely he said to wait for a few months before he would write to the principal and sure enough, in a few months I was comfortably settled in with some wonderful new friends.
What is it that you miss most about Doon?
I miss the old Doon; the Doon I grew up in. I miss the good ol’ days when we would roam around on a scooter or car, going for drives to Diversion or Rajpur. We would go for picnics at SahastraDhara and bathe for hours in the sulphur springs there. I remember going to movies at Digvijay Talkies, Orient and Prabhat Talkies. Prabhat was often referred to as the gaddha wala cinema hall. For English movies, we would go to Odeon where the samosas in the interval were a delight. We would go every day to Elloras to get our daily dose of pastries and sticky toffees which were called Kwality toffees. We went to Kumar Sweet House for the mithais and jalebis.
We would buy books from English Book Depot or Salujas next door and for stationery and school books there could be no other store but the famous Jugal Kishore. Sadly Elloras got divided into two sections and now we frequent Melting Moments on Rajpur Road. He’s always very kind and gives me a hamper each time I visit till today! Odeon no longer exists, and neither does Prabhat or Digvijay. I looked at the remains of Digvijay on my last visit to Doon and sighed, remembering my lovely childhood moments of watching movies there. Passing by Prabhat, Odeon or Capri still gives me pangs of nostalgia. Parade Ground is no longer the vast expanse of green that it used to be. In fact, that is where I learnt to drive a car for the very first time. Rajpur Road is lined with shops and malls now, earlier it used to be just lined by tall trees and greenery and we would love driving up just feeling happy to be surrounded by nature.
How did acting happen to you? Your journey from Doon to Mumbai?
Living in a small town the only form of entertainment was watching films on the small quaint single screens of Doon. We were not allowed to watch many films but one was totally glamour struck by the silver screen gods and goddesses. The then Bombay seemed to be a far-off land and I had no cousins or friends there who I could visit. So I’d probably never even meet a film actor, let alone be one! But fate has a way of leading you to your destination even when you yourself cannot see that path.
So after I finished college, my dad accidentally connected with some friends in Mumbai and I found myself there with a suitcase in my hand and dreams in my eyes. I have had luck on my side which has led me to have a career spanning four decades in the film and television industry, but nothing would have been possible without my parents supporting me wholeheartedly.
There have been such amazing incidents, some bad, some even terrible, but then some were good too. I made amazing friends at some PG places. The famous singer Bhupinder Singh’s wife Mitali Mukherjee and I stayed together for four years at a PG in Mahalaxmi in Mumbai and till today we are the best of friends. All the homesickness and hardships I experienced while struggling to get a break have made me stronger & wiser and possibly a better actor too.
What are your earliest memories of Dehradun?
Some of my earliest memories of my hometown are going shopping with mom and dad in Paltan Bazar or a shop called Novelty at Clock Tower where dad would often stop to pick knick-knacks for the house. Elloras was where my sister and I would go every day to buy our pastries; then we would head to Newlite, a comic book store where we would pick up our ‘treasure’ of comics and storybooks, and then we would head home to devour both with a pleasure that I believe can only be experienced in childhood.
Summers were spent in Mussoorie. We had an orchard there called St George’s Estate, locally it was called Hathipaon since it had a mountain peak that resembled an elephant’s foot. We would also make a frequent long trek from Hathipaon to Mussoorie Mall Road to skate, watch movies at Rialto and Brij and Picture Palace, and enjoy the famous dances and the ‘nights’ held at Whispering Windows at Library Chowk or Tavern near Picture Palace.
Very little is known about your childhood, please share some memories of it with us. About your time in Doon, the school and colleges you studied in.
I studied at the Convent of Jesus and Mary near Parade Ground from the I standard onwards till the XI. I was lucky enough to be able to stand first in every examination by studying only at the last minute. But I never could wrap my head around Mathematics and excelled only in subjects like History, English and Geography. The nuns didn’t take too lightly the fact that I was often mischievous and the teachers, though they loved me for being a good student academically, would complain that I wasn’t doing justice to my abilities. Years later one teacher looked at me on the cover of a popular film magazine and sighed ‘You could have been an IAS or IFS officer... and you chose to go into the movies?’ Such was their collective belief that I could have done something more worthy of my talents! However many of those who taught me have passed away and I regret not being able to thank them enough for the knowledge they imparted to me, their patience in dealing with me, and their wonderful contribution to who I am today. I remember my teachers in school with much love and gratitude, especially our Hindi teacher Mrs Pabra and my English/ Geography teacher HP Sharma who instilled in me a love for the English Language and made me fall in love with Geography because he taught it to us with so much passion and dedication.
After finishing my 11th standard, I then went on to study Literature in English at Lady Shri Ram College where I stayed in the hostel on campus. I didn’t love staying in the hostel initially as I missed home and I had never been away from my beloved Doon before. So I wrote to my father to let me come back home. Wisely he said to wait for a few months before he would write to the principal and sure enough, in a few months I was comfortably settled in with some wonderful new friends.
What is it that you miss most about Doon?
I miss the old Doon; the Doon I grew up in. I miss the good ol’ days when we would roam around on a scooter or car, going for drives to Diversion or Rajpur. We would go for picnics at SahastraDhara and bathe for hours in the sulphur springs there. I remember going to movies at Digvijay Talkies, Orient and Prabhat Talkies. Prabhat was often referred to as the gaddha wala cinema hall. For English movies, we would go to Odeon where the samosas in the interval were a delight. We would go every day to Elloras to get our daily dose of pastries and sticky toffees which were called Kwality toffees. We went to Kumar Sweet House for the mithais and jalebis.
We would buy books from English Book Depot or Salujas next door and for stationery and school books there could be no other store but the famous Jugal Kishore. Sadly Elloras got divided into two sections and now we frequent Melting Moments on Rajpur Road. He’s always very kind and gives me a hamper each time I visit till today! Odeon no longer exists, and neither does Prabhat or Digvijay. I looked at the remains of Digvijay on my last visit to Doon and sighed, remembering my lovely childhood moments of watching movies there. Passing by Prabhat, Odeon or Capri still gives me pangs of nostalgia. Parade Ground is no longer the vast expanse of green that it used to be. In fact, that is where I learnt to drive a car for the very first time. Rajpur Road is lined with shops and malls now, earlier it used to be just lined by tall trees and greenery and we would love driving up just feeling happy to be surrounded by nature.
How did acting happen to you? Your journey from Doon to Mumbai?
Living in a small town the only form of entertainment was watching films on the small quaint single screens of Doon. We were not allowed to watch many films but one was totally glamour struck by the silver screen gods and goddesses. The then Bombay seemed to be a far-off land and I had no cousins or friends there who I could visit. So I’d probably never even meet a film actor, let alone be one! But fate has a way of leading you to your destination even when you yourself cannot see that path.
So after I finished college, my dad accidentally connected with some friends in Mumbai and I found myself there with a suitcase in my hand and dreams in my eyes. I have had luck on my side which has led me to have a career spanning four decades in the film and television industry, but nothing would have been possible without my parents supporting me wholeheartedly.
There have been such amazing incidents, some bad, some even terrible, but then some were good too. I made amazing friends at some PG places. The famous singer Bhupinder Singh’s wife Mitali Mukherjee and I stayed together for four years at a PG in Mahalaxmi in Mumbai and till today we are the best of friends. All the homesickness and hardships I experienced while struggling to get a break have made me stronger & wiser and possibly a better actor too.
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