SOME may dub her too loud and cacophonous, while others may find her downright funny, but the fact remains that Archana Puran Singh has donned the comedienne cap for good — so much so that even her negative roles in films have comic undertones.

But what makes this saucy small-screen anchor-cum-compere tick? How does she handle the ticklish situation of tickling others to laughter?

"The pressure of performing has never bogged me," candidly admits the glamorous actress, who had set the screen ablaze in Jalwa. "In fact, I naturally crack jokes and make people laugh. Of late, I have been better known for my skill to initiate laughter than anything else. On screen I enjoy the personality I wear."

On the sets, Archana experiences no pressure of performance. Instead, she finds it "a matter of privilege that people depend on me to make them laugh. In the process, they require me to don a particular look, crack jokes, and narrate anecdotes. I don’t mind these things as long as they are meant to further my scripts."

This entertainer, however, begins to feel the strain when she is not allowed to shed her comedienne mask off-screen. "What presses me down is when people want the same Archana off the sets. Whenever I enter any party, the crowd becomes very demanding. Even friends want you to become what you don’t want to at that particular moment. So before you even break free, you are back to business, playing the host, the anchor, the comedienne and everything else that people want you to be. Only the setting is different. Playing everyone’s funny girl all the time, entails a huge amount of stress."

This mother of two admits that she can be just herself only with her husband Parmeet and her two sons, who help her unwind. "Whenever I feel like withdrawing, I run to my family, which loves me for what I am and not for what I should be or could be. We lead a rather low-profile life as far as our children are concerned. Not many people at my sons’ school know that they are Archana Puran Singh’s sons."

But where is the need to underplay identity? As the actress struggles for an answer, she is led back to her childhood days at Dehra Dun. "There is no apparent need. In fact, it is not possible to get rid of the image you have chosen for yourself. I had to struggle because I had burnt the bridges behind me, and the only way left headed forward. As an adolescent I was said to be very dark and ugly. Relatives would always compare my assets with those of my elder sister. My side of the balance would always hang high. Despite all this, I had this inclination towards modelling. I went to Delhi, and worked hard. And who knew Dimple Kapadia would opt out of Jalwa to my benefit?"

But even Jalwa did not ensure a future for the small-town girl who was already sporting bikinis, much to the delight of some producers. For long Archana played the item girl before she established herself as a chatty compere. On and off, she also likes to don the "hot look", which she did for Karan Johar as Ms Breganza in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and for Dharmesh Darshan as the sexy stepmother of Karisma Kapoor. Always looking forward to experiment with different kinds of roles, she maintains: "I have loved all my roles, especially the ones which have come of late. I like playing negative characters. Strangely, however, even in the midst of all negativity, my directors make room for comedy."

And though Archana concedes that she loves her role as mother the best and likes to take the steep road that heads homeward, she also takes delight in the belief that her jalwa will continue to spill for a lifetime.