Yashvi Rebecchi

Yashvi Rebecchi is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Olivia Junkeer. She was created when producers struggled to find the right male actor to play the Rebecchis' son, which resulted in them changing the character's gender at the last moment. Yashvi was introduced along with her parents, sister and aunt as part of an expansion of the serial's Rebecchi family. Junkeer auditioned for the role shortly after finishing her last year of school. She doubted she would win the part, as the producers thought she was too old for the role. However, she learned she had been cast in December 2016 and she started on set the following month. Junkeer was pleased to be representing fellow women of colour on Australian television and said her on-screen family represented her own mixed-race family. She made her first appearance in the episode broadcast on 24 April 2017. Junkeer also played the role in the 2019 spin-off series ''Erinsborough High''.

Yashvi was initially portrayed as a confident, opportunistic, rebellious teenager. Junkeer also called her head strong and feisty, while praising her open vulnerability. Junkeer enjoyed having the opportunity to explore Yashvi's development from 15 to 18 years old. Early storylines for the character saw the introduction of her first love interest, Evan Lewis (Joe Klocek), who she later learns has been trolling a neighbour online. Yashvi later pursues a career in the AFLW, a story in which writers also explored racism, as Yahsvi is bullied by a teammate. Junkeer said the storyline was one of her favourites and felt that it reflected society. A romantic relationship was later established between Yashvi and Ned Willis (Ben Hall), which proved divisive among viewers because of the age gap between them. This was later used as a plot device when Scarlett Brady (Christie Whelan Browne) developed an obsession with Ned and manipulated the couple into breaking up. Junkeer said the storyline sees Yashvi at her most vulnerable. The storyline comes to a climax during episodes set at Halloween when Scarlett stabs both Ned and Yashvi, who attempts to rescue him.

After airing a reconciliation for the pair, producers reintroduced Scarlett in October 2020. Scarlett frames Ned for her murder, which leads to him and Yashvi staging a fake wedding to lure her out of hiding. Junkeer enjoyed playing a bride, but she was not keen for Ned and Yashvi to marry for real, as she liked playing out the unpredictable nature of their relationship. Writers broke the couple up for good in June 2021 after Ned develops a connection with Sheila Canning ( Shareena Clanton). Outside of her relationship plots, Yashvi joins the police force and is paired with Levi Canning (Richie Morris). Junkeer felt the development was a natural progression for the character. Yashvi and Levi investigate a drug dealing network and learn Detective Dax Braddock (Dean Kirkright) is involved, which leads to a siege at the local high school, where Dax holds Yashvi and several other characters hostage. Yashvi is later involved in a high speed car chase and crash while pursuing two suspects. The crash is one of the biggest stunts filmed for the show in recent history. Junkeer announced her departure from ''Neighbours'' in July 2021. She cited a desire to pursue new roles and the exits of her on-screen family as her reasons for leaving. Her final scenes were broadcast on 13 July 2021, however she later returned in July 2022 for the serial's finale.

Creation and casting

Yashvi was introduced as part of an expansion of the serial's Rebecchi family, which began with the return of Shane Rebecchi (Nicholas Coghlan) after 22 years. She was created after producers struggled to find the right actor to play the Rebecchis' son. Sharon Johal, who plays matriarch Dipi Rebecchi, explained that the family were meant to have a son and a daughter upon their introduction, but after being unable to find the right boy for the role, producers changed the character's gender at the last moment. Of the new family, the show's executive producer Jason Herbison stated "Shane Rebecchi is one of the great untapped characters from ''Neighbours'' history. I'm delighted to welcome him back to Ramsay Street along with his beautiful wife, two children and sister-in-law, it's a great new chapter of the Rebecchi family." The Rebecchis are an Indian-Australian family. Herbison and the other producers believed it was important that they "reflect the cultural diversity of the community and our audience."

Actress Olivia Junkeer was 17 when she was cast as Yashvi, which marks her first television role. She auditioned shortly after finishing her last year of school. Junkeer admitted "I didn't think much of it because the chances of landing an audition are extremely slim. I was more focused on my end of year celebrations." She received a callback as she was about to leave for Byron Bay with her friends. During the callback, Junkeer acted out scenes alongside Coghlan and Ryan Moloney, who plays Yashvi's uncle Toadfish Rebecchi. In conversation with co-star Takaya Honda, Junkeer recalled that she was asked about her hair and from that she knew that the producers thought she was too old for the role, as Yashvi was meant to be 15.

Junkeer was cast in December 2016. She initially thought she had lost the role, after not hearing anything back about her audition. Her agent later contacted her to say she was still in the running and a couple of days later, she learned she had won the role. Junkeer told Honda that it did not feel real until she got to the set the following month. She was grateful to receive the role because she was unsure about her plans after school. She felt like "the luckiest girl in the world" to get the opportunity to appear in an iconic show, and believed it was an incredible "training ground" for her acting career. She also liked that she had "the luxury" of representing fellow women of colour on television in Australia, and thought her on-screen family represented her own mixed-race family. She commented: "This issue is really important to me, because at the moment and throughout my childhood there was a serious lack of cultural diversity on our screens. I love that my little cousins can watch me and see someone that looks like them." Junkeer made her debut as Yashvi on 24 April 2017.

Development

Characterisation

Yashvi is Shane and Dipi Rebecchi's (Sharon Johal) eldest child. She is introduced alongside her parents, aunt Mishti Sharma (Scarlet Vas), and youngest sibling Kirsha Rebecchi (Vani Dhir). Junkeer called the Rebecchis "the best family to be a part of". She liked that they were a big family and said Dhir felt like her own little sister, while Johal was like her mother. Yashvi was initially billed as "a boisterous troublemaker who's fearless and confident", which is in total contrast to her shy and better behaved sister. Her character description also stated that Yashvi enjoys showing off and being the "centre of attention", which often gets her into trouble at school and leaves her parents exasperated at her behaviour. The description concluded that she is more of an "opportunist" than a "bad girl" or "schemer". In keeping with Rebecchi family tradition, Yashvi has a fish nickname – Clownfish. As Junkeer is three years older than Yashvi, producers debated giving her bangs to make her seem younger, but they styled her hair into plaits instead which Yashvi wore for the first couple of years. Junkeer later described her character as "a rebellious, outspoken and ambitious teenager." She enjoyed portraying Yashvi's feisty side and found that her character's restless nature kept her active. She also admitted to being challenged by Yashvi's passion for AFL, as she is not a sporty person.

Yashvi is shown to be "openly vulnerable" and often shares her "struggles and her feelings" with those around her, even though it sometimes leads to trouble. Junkeer called her "reckless" and "head strong", but not someone who has bad intentions. In 2019, Junkeer commented on how much busier she had become since her arrival and how her character had grown. She said "When I first started, for the first couple of years, I was always there but never as involved. But now I am, I really enjoy it. It makes it so much more enjoyable and makes me more motivated. To be able to show such different stories constantly – and explore Yashvi developing from 15 to 18 – has been amazing." She found that her later storylines also showed "the growth in Yashvi's moral compass". Junkeer also called for the introduction of Yashvi's brother Jay Rebecchi, believing that another male presence in the Rebecchi home would "settle" Kirsha, Yashvi and Dipi down, as well as create some drama for Yashvi. Producers later cast Dhruv Malge in the role and he said his character's arrival "changes the entire atmosphere in the family", which has "a good impact" on them all. Junkeer later said that in her third year on the show, her character "keeps me on my toes, and I adore playing her!" She added that Yashvi's choice to join the police force had contributed to her "journey of self discovery".

Early storylines

One of the character's early storylines saw the introduction of her first love interest, mechanic Evan Lewis (Joe Klocek) in July 2017. Evan starts working at the local garage and becomes a rival for Yashvi's neighbour Ben Kirk (Felix Mallard). Yashvi learns that she and Evan share a passion for BMX bikes and she attempts to go "all-out" to get his attention, but has "mixed success." The story leads to Yashvi and Ben forging a friendship when he offers to matchmake her and Evan. Yashvi and Evan's budding romance ends after "a disastrous date" in which Yashvi learns Evan has been abusing Piper Willis (Mavournee Hazel) online. Neela Debnath of the ''Daily Express'' said Yashvi was "understandably" upset and after confronting Evan, it appears that she has struck him with his own car.

Yashvi later expresses an interest in football and decides to pursue a career in the AFLW. Western Bulldogs player Ellie Blackburn makes a cameo appearance as she meets with Yashvi to give her advice. Of the storyline, Junkeer commented: "It couldn't be a more exciting time for my character to take up AFL, particularly with amazing players like Ellie Blackburn paving the way for young girls wanting to pursue their passion on the field." Dipi is initially "terrified" that Yashvi will get injured, but eventually relents. When a recruiter for the women's league comes to watch Yashvi play, her parents opt not to tell her, so she will not be nervous. However, during the match Dipi punches Jake Hendra (Guy Greenstone) in the face, causing Yashvi to miss a kick and lose the game. A ''Soaplife'' writer observed that Yashvi was "fuming" with her mother, especially after learning that a scout was there for her.

Writers also used the football storyline to explore the issue of racism, as Yahsvi is racially bullied by her teammate Marisa Taylor (Shannon Barker). Of how this affects her, Claire Crick of ''Soaplife'' explained "When Yashvi's skills on the pitch aren't up to scratch, it's clear Marisa's racial slurs are taking their toll. And to make matters worse, Yashvi's family have no idea." Yashvi hides the bullying from her family when they are named the Faces of Lassiters Hotel and have to take part in a Christmas-in-July photo shoot. But when Yashvi wins an award at a football fundraiser, she fails to collect her trophy and Dipi finds her crying in a bathroom. Yashvi admits the truth about Marisa and after a meeting with her coach, Marisa is asked to leave the team. Junkeer said the storyline was one of her favourites and important to her. She felt that it reflected society and was so well written that she did not need to add to it.

Relationship with Ned Willis

Writers later established a romantic relationship between Yashvi and Ned Willis (Ben Hall). The story arc began in September 2018 when Yashvi develops "an inappropriate crush" on Ned after saving his life. As a thank you for rescuing him from a sauna, Ned offers to help Yashvi with her football training which leads to Yashvi "getting a little too attached" to him. Her crush does not got unnoticed, as Kirsha realises her sister has feelings for Ned. After Toadie helps to hide her crush from Ned, Yashvi vows to move past her crush. Ned was dating Yashvi's best friend Bea Nilsson at the time and her portrayer Bonnie Anderson explained her point of view to ''Inside Soaps Alice Penwill, saying "Bea is actually very unaware of Yashvi's crush, which is odd as they're best friends. I suppose Bea doesn't like someone else having eyes for the guy she's falling for, especially as she and Yashvi are friends. But they'll work it out!" The following year, Ned and Bea break up. Not long after, Yashvi spontaneously kisses Ned, who pulls away and insists that he just wants to be friends as he is still getting over Bea. Eventually, Ned and Yashvi start a relationship, which is tested straight away by Yashvi's eagerness to tell everyone and Shane's negative reaction, while Ned wants to take things at a slower pace. He also cancels their first proper date, where Yashvi had planned to lose her virginity to him, leaving her feeling "incredibly insecure".

Hall dubbed Ned and Yashvi's relationship "a slowburner". He told ''What's on TV's'' Simon Timblick that Ned can see from the time they have spent together that Yashvi has "grown-up a bit." He continued, "She makes him laugh and she's easy to be with. Whereas Ned's ex-girlfriend Bea Nilsson was always a bit of troubled soul and Ned was always trying to help fix her. With Yashvi it's fun and it's much easier." Despite the couple earning the portmanteau

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