Shriya Pilgaonkar is enjoying a prolific phase in her career, with back-to-back projects like Mandala Murders, Chhal Kapat, among others.
Speaking about this exciting time, she expressed how grateful she feels for the opportunities that allow her to showcase different sides of her talent. “It makes me feel very grateful that I get to show my versatility through the different parts I’ve been offered. These are things I never take for granted. So much goes into getting that one part and for it to release. It’s a cycle with many people involved, and a lot has to go right for a project to see the light of day,” Shriya told Zoom.
Unfiltered Shriya Pilgaonkar!
Shriya, who played both a cop in Chhal Kapat and the enigmatic character Rukmini in Mandala Murders this year, opened up about switching between such contrasting roles. “As an actor, it is part of my job to be able to switch on and switch off. Personally, whatever I may be going through, when I’m on set, I have to play that part and those emotions. Even if I’m playing two diametrically opposite characters at the same time, I have to focus and just flow. Managing your energy and emotions is part of the beauty of being an actor. It’s a privilege to live so many different lives in one lifetime.”
For Shriya, choosing projects is about more than just her character, “At this stage, it’s very important to do work that reimagines me as an actor. Mandala Murders was a step in that direction because Rukmini was a complete departure from what I’ve done before. She’s perhaps the darkest character I’ve played. But for me, the story is always very important. You don’t want to do work that will be easily lost-you want to be part of something memorable. It has to be a combination of the story, the production house, the genre, and my character.”
Citing her previous projects, Shriya said that playing roles such as a lawyer in Guilty Minds, a s*x worker in Taaza Khabar, and a news reporter in The Broken News helped her take on something as unusual as Rukmini.
“Playing Rukmini was exciting because it wasn’t rooted in reality. It was completely different. It’s important to keep breaking your own patterns so you don’t get stereotyped. I’m at a stage where I want to get out of my comfort zone and make more fearless choices. I’m glad this choice paid off because even though I had a guest appearance, my character Rukmini got a lot of love.”
A major factor in taking up Mandala Murders was also the way her character looked. She said, “For an actor, playing with your look is extremely important because it lets people see you in a different light. One of the big reasons I took this part, despite having less screen time, was that the look was unique, enchanting, and mysterious.”
The feedback she has received for her performance has been heartening. “The feedback has been so beautiful, and I’m very grateful. With a guest appearance, you don’t know what to expect, but the love has been overwhelming. Many fans even said they’d love to see a Rukmini spin-off, or that they were waiting for me to appear on screen. Some said that even when I wasn’t on screen, my presence was looming in the show. That kind of feedback encourages me as an actor and empowers me to make more such choices.”
The actress admitted it was a risk to take on a shorter role, but one that paid off. “This was a risk, but it paid off. I was also reuniting with Yash Raj Films after my Hindi film debut Fan. Meeting Adi sir again, working with Gopi sir and Vaani was wonderful. I’ve realized that sometimes when I don’t expect much, I end up getting pleasantly surprised. That’s what happened here.”
Talking about her shooting experience, Shriya said she enjoyed immersing herself in the aura of Rukmini.
“I had around eight to ten days of work, and it was fun. Since Rukmini was otherworldly, I had no reference point. The body language, the rawness, the aura-all of it was exciting to create. Sometimes what you wear externally affects you internally. The moment I wore the clothes and jewelry, my walk and body language changed. It was super fun, and we shot in Mumbai. We even did workshops to figure out how Rukmini should sound. I hadn’t done something like this before, so I was really excited to see how people would react.”
Despite having headlined series before, Shriya said she wasn’t worried about being overshadowed in a multi-starrer project. “I think it’s important to trust yourself as an actor. A thought did cross my mind-people might wonder why I’m doing this-but I had the confidence that if I created Rukmini in an interesting manner, no one would question my choice. Also, things like whether you’re on the poster or part of promotions are not in an actor’s hands. What’s in my hands is to deliver. I was pleasantly surprised to see myself on the poster because it’s rare for a guest appearance to be featured like that.”