Mumbai, February 16 Shalini Pandey says that through her character of Mariam, a young woman from a small town with big dreams in "Bandwaale," she relived the moments when people around her thought she was crazy for dreaming of becoming a heroine.
In the new Prime Video series, Pandey plays a poet who fights against familial resistance to pursue her dreams. The star of "Arjun Reddy" and "Maharaj" said her confrontation scene with her father in the show echoed the conversation she had with her own parents at the beginning of her career.
"I take a lot of pride in this show, and playing Mariam, because I hope that many girls who are watching this, especially those in small towns, will realize that it's not that difficult.
"Because when I was growing up, and I first voiced my desire to be an actor, it was a big deal. People thought I was crazy. They thought, 'How is this possible?' They were like, 'You want to be a heroine?' And I was like 'Yes, I want to be a heroine'. It was somehow a very difficult thing to accept," Pandey told
The 32-year-old actor, born in Jamshedpur, said it was cathartic to play the character as she relived those experiences again.
"What happens is, when you relive that, you also understand the other perspectives, your father's perspective, your mother's, your sister's. And that also helped me a lot to have a good relationship with my father. So, it kind of helped me," she added.
Asked about her relationship with her father now that she has been an independent actor for almost eight years, Pandey said she hopes he is proud of her now.
"He's fine. I earn my own money. I have my own lifestyle here. I hope he's very proud of me. We both don't express our feelings to each other, but I think he's kind of proud of me," she added.
Created and written by Ankur Tewari and Swanand Kirkire, and directed by Akshat Verma and Ankur Tewari, the Prime Original series is produced by OML Entertainment.
The series, directed by Tewari and Akshat Verma, also stars Kirkire, Ashish Vidyarthi, Anupama Kumar, and Sanjana Dipu. It features original compositions by Yashraj Mukhate, marking his first foray into composing music for a long-format series.