One of the most recognizable faces on OTT, Shriya Pilgaonkar started her career with the 2013 Marathi film "Ekulti Ek", directed by her father Sachin Pilgaonkar
Shriya Pilgaonkar
She has web series such as "Mirzapur", "Guilty Minds", "The Broken News" and "Taaza Khabar" to her credit and Shriya Pilgaonkar says she's now gunning for the big screen, hoping to star in a Sanjay Leela Bhansali period drama. One of the most recognisable faces on OTT, Shriya started her career with the 2013 Marathi film "Ekulti Ek", directed by her father Sachin Pilgaonkar.
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The actor, also known for movies across languages "Un plus une", "Fan", and "House Arrest", has two feature films in the pipeline which will be announced soon. "Ideally, I want to keep a balance, which is why today, I'm focusing more on films now. That's perhaps a medium that I've not done enough of or it's not come too much my way... I've been wanting to dance on screen.
"I want to do that one big cinematic period drama, out-an-out all guns blazing, Sanjay Leela Bhansali film because a lot of my work has been rooted in reality. I want to experience Bollywood masala larger-than-life films... That is every actor's dream," she told PTI in an interview. It is an exciting time for her, said the 35-year-old, who is ready to get out of her comfort zone.
"You have to take risks and fight for yourself for growth. It's not like things are laid down on a plate. I'm also working with people to build ideas to develop stories for myself. "Recently, I was on the jury of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. I met young writers, aspiring filmmakers, and wonderful actors and it made me realise that you have to take creative control and create the path for yourself."
Shriya currently stars in the second season of "Taaza Khabar", in which she reprised her role of the sex worker Madhu, whom she described as a dignified and spunky woman. She credited the Disney+ Hotstar show, fronted by YouTuber-actor Bhuvan Bam, for letting her try her hand at comedy years after "Ekulti Ek".
"Earlier comedians were stereotyped, but today, the definition of comedy has expanded. Maybe it's subtle, sometimes it's conversational. It may not be slapstick every single time, but I enjoy comedy. I want to do more genres like dark comedies, which are exciting." For Shriya, daughter of actor couple Sachin and Supriya Pilgaonkar, acting happened organically.
While she was always confident both in front of the camera and on stage, it was only when she started training as a Kathak dancer that she felt closely connected to the performing art. She is also a professional swimmer. "I'm lucky that I didn't come into the industry just because my parents were there. I honed and trained myself, and that is something I value. I didn't take it for granted, it was an organic way of coming (into the industry)"
Her journey has been different from other star kids, she added. "I was not on the cover of magazines before my work (came out). My journey has been such that my work has spoken for itself outside Maharashtra. "I realised after 'Mirzapur', there were a lot of people who didn't put two and two together that 'I'm Sachin and Supriya's daughter'. For me, that was the compliment that my work reached sooner than my identity," said Shriya, who started off making short films, and documentaries.
The actor said family can't always be a safety blanket for the next generation. "You're going to have to fall or learn from your own thing. People will say whatever they want to, but we all know what individual journeys have been like. "Eventually at the end of one's career to sustain in showbiz is not easy, so the only way you're going to sustain yourself is if you create your own path. I've always believed that the best way to be different is to be yourself, and focus on your work."
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