Happy to play my age in 'Doli Armaano Ki': Neha Marda

TV actress Neha Marda, who rose to fame as Gehna in popular daily soap "Balika Vadhu", returns as small town girl Urmi with "Doli Armaano Ki". She is happy to get into a character she can identify with.

In "Balika Vadhu" too, her character was of a teenage girl, but matured and different as she played someone who is forced to marry a middle-aged man.

But "Doli Armaano Ki" is about Urmi, a young girl who enters the institution of marriage with hope and dreams in her eyes.

It features newcomer Mohit Malik opposite Neha.

"It is very different from what I did before. Urmi's character is nineteen years old. I am glad to play something (closer) to my age," Neha said here Monday at the launch of the show.

The actress, however, admits her character was stronger in "Balika Vadhu".

"In 'Balika Vadhu', the character was very mature but I was playing not even an adult. I was playing a 13-year-old girl who turns 18 after a leap of five years. But the character was so matured that it looked like she must be 30 or 35 year old," she said.

"But the character was very strong and I got a lot of name and fame because of it. I am very happy," she said and added that she quit "Balika Vadhu" because she was not keen to play such a mature character.

Set in Jhansi, "Doli Armaano Ki" went on air Dec 2 on Zee TV.