when i step out from the confines of the studios and meet the public their first reaction is ldquobut you are unlike kanchana you are so nicerdquo laughs supreetha shetty recalling the funny moments shersquos encountered due to her turnout in the serial kulavadhu having been in the tv industry for the past 12 years supreetha has essayed various characters but the kind of the response she has been getting for kulavadhu mdash one among the current popular serials mdash has been overwhelming she tells us ldquowe celebrated 750 episodes recently and the how has been on air for three years now kanchana my character is the negative protagonist in the serial and has been bringing me a lot of accolades besides people also love to hate me itrsquos a high indeed because when they say why are you being mean to dhanya another character in the serial i know irsquove been successful at my jobrdquo states supreetha in her other serial durga which is also on air supreetha once again plays a negative shade so does she fear being typecast ldquoyou become a consummate artiste when you portray the character to your best ability whether you play a lead role or a sweeper in the background it is immaterial irsquove never worried about being typecastrdquo concurs supreetha who played an old woman in a serial when she was just 25 she reminisces her journey which began in 2000 in kannada theatre with then boyfriend and now husband actor pramod shetty ldquoit culminated in television in 2005 my first serial was for dd1 titled soundarya i still remember when i broached the topic of doing serials to my father he had given me a tight slap until then i had managed to do theatre in secrecy because my father didnrsquot like the idea of performing in public so this was a huge jolt for him once i did soundarya my folks came around and from then on therersquos been no looking backrdquo smiles supreetha shersquos done over 70 serials since her debut 12 years ago and they include memorable ones like vatsalya mounaraga prerana lakshmi sukanya matte baruvanu chandira and mangalya ldquobut the highlight of my career has been director sunil kumar desai calling me up and saying that i should play a role in his serial and that hersquod pen it in detail only if i agreed to be a part of it it was for the serial prerana and it was a negative shade i was extremely busy at the time and for my sake desai sir agreed to let me shoot for an hour whenever i could muster some time off from my other serials it remains in my mind till daterdquo she says a tad nostalgically with tara and umashri as inspirations supreetha wants to emulate their kind of acting in her television pursuits ldquoi love their portrayals in the art cinema itrsquos riveting i tried that in my serial pallavi anu pallavi a while ago