Mithila Palkar: Have been on internet but work didn't come to me magically

Mithila Palkar is extremely excited about her Bollywood debut, Karwaan, alongside talented Irrfan Khan and Dulquer Salmaan. In an exclusive chat with mid-day online, Mithila speaks her heart out about films and her idea of success

Mithila Palkar - a media student, passionate about acting, not particularly Bollywood, started her acting career on the internet a few years ago. Apart from acting in web series, the social media sensation won people's hearts by creating music with cups and her melodious singing. After the immense hardwork and dedication, Mithila finally got the opportunity to do a film with Irrfan Khan and Dulquer Salmaan in Karwaan. In an interaction with mid-day online, Mithila reveals her experience of working with dynamites Irrfan and Dulquer. She also confessed that work did not come magically to her, she auditioned for every tiny role that she has done till date.

You've auditioned for this film, so how did you get to know about karwaan and the entire process?  
Akarsh Khurana (director) called me and said that he's making such a film, and 'Your's (Mithila) is the name that I'm going to suggest' to the casting directors. Also, I had auditioned for one of the casting directors in the past, so it was also through her that I found about the audition. I gave the audition, got shortlisted and gave look test, and then I waited for a very long time until Akarsh called me and said that I've got selected.

What was your reaction upon learning that you've been selected for Karwaan?
Quite excited. I didn't expect it at all. I wished to be a part of it obviously because it's like a dream team to be working with. However, it took so long for them to get back to me that I'd considered it's not happening.

How was it working with Irrfan Khan and Dulquer Salmaan?

It was surreal working with Irrfan Khan because 'Who is not in awe of him?' I have grown up watching him. So, I was a little intimidated to actually work with him not because he is intimidating, it comes from a place of awe and respect. DQ (Dulquer) and I did a couple of readings before we got on the set. That's how I got to be his friend before we actually got on board as co-actors. 

Since it's a travel film, Have you ever been on an adventurous road trip?
I'd recently gone on a road trip to Himachal Pradesh with my best friend. It's not too much of a ride but it was adventorous. The longest drive was from Amritsar to Beed, which is a six-hour drive. It was very adventorous because everybody was driving like they are there to kill people. We were just holding on to it but it was amazing. I love road trips. Even in Mumbai, I keep going out on drives.

How would the atmosphere on sets be with everyone around?
The director is really the captain of the ship and it really depends on how he is. The mood of the set is also mostly dependent on how your director is and Akarsh is amazing with everybody. He's hilarious and makes sure the work is done with lot of fun and discipline at the same time. It's very rare to find such a combination. So, it was a lot of fun on the sets with all of us including Irrfan sir.

Did you learn Malayalam along with Dulquer?
I did not but I watched a lot of Malayalam films because of DQ. I watched his films only. The song of the schedule was 'Jimmiki Kamal'. So, we heard a lot of Malayalam songs.

The kind of web series you've done are slice of life, youth centric and modern day relationships.... Would you be interested in doing edgy, crime thriller kind of web series?
Of course, I've been saying that the good part is that I am very new to all of this. I can count the number of things I have done on my finger tips. So, there's so much left to explore, so many genres, so many people I'm yet to work with it. I've just decided to see what is going to come my way.

You sang Maharashtra Desha with BhaDiPa and your love for singing is much known. So are you open to singing for films as well?
Yes, I am. I'm not a very confident singer behind the microphone. Otherwise, you'll hear me sing all the time, to a point where sometimes it probably gets annoying. I wouldn't mind singing.

If you had to be one of the characters form your roles Meera Sehgal from Girl in the city, Tanya from Karwaan or Kavya Kulkarni from Little things? Who would you be and why?
Neither of them! I would just be myself. All of them have a little hint of me but they are very different people, and I relate to them at very different levels. Meera is very confident but our idea of romance is very different, I'm very old school. Tanya is completely opposite of what I am – She's very practical and I'm very emotional. Kavya is very confused in terms of her career choice. She's unsure about herself, which is not who I am but yet she is full of life and loves her life. Things like that and a little bit here and there I can relate to but I am very different from all of them. I like to distance myself otherwise it's too confusing in your own head.

You are ranked the most successful in Forbes 30 under 30 list of 2018. How does it feel and what is your idea of success?
Extremely overwhelming! I don't know what my idea of success is. Even this whole Forbes thing was really unexpected. I did not expect this to happen so soon. The way the news was broken out to me was , 'Oh! Okay, this has happened.' It was quite surreal. I don't know what my idea of success is because I believe in just keeping at your work, anything that you do and it makes you happy that is success for me. The work that doesn't make you complacent, that you don't want to get up in the morning for is like something that keeps you going. I don't think there's anything else that I would trade for. I get aked a lot that if not an actor what would you be? But there's never an option, I always wanted to be an actor. The first thing in my mind was not the lead debut in Bollywood, that's not the first thing I did anyway. I just wanted to be an actor and work with good people with good content. Whatever offered me that, I made the most of it. So, if it was the internet, that's what I took up.

You began as an anchor for online News Show called 'News Darshan', then did a Marathi movie, now a Bollywood film. So, how do you see your journey – was it a bumpy ride or things fell in place?
I have been on the internet but even there work didn't come to me magically. I'd auditioned for News Darshan. Everything was through audition, nobody came to me and said, 'Hey! We have this script and we want to offer you.' Even for Murumba (Marathi film), I had given a look test. So, anything so far has been through the conventional - auditioning, waiting and then if it works out, otherwise you move on.

Also Read: Karwaan: Dulquer Salmaan And Mithila Palkar Enjoy Trip To Baahubali Land

Catch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!