I Was Called Arrogant for Rejecting Typical Bollywood Heroine Roles: Sandhya Mridul
Sandhya Mridul is one of those celebrities everyone unanimously loves. She's fierce and fabulous, and is known for speaking her mind in an industry that propagates the opposite. She found fans with her first television appearance, Koshish - Ek Aasha, way back in the early 00s, followed by her portrayal of the revered elder sister, Dina, in Saathiya in 2002. 14 years later, she's coming back to our television screens with Nikhil Advani's Prisoners of War. (The first episode was premiered at the recently concluded Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival to rave reviews.)
Vagabomb spoke to the actor about her second television role and the challenges she faced between both these appearances. Excerpts from a candid chat with our favourite Angry Indian Goddess:
On returning to television with Prisoners of War
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'There's a lot of hoo-ha about the medium but it doesn't matter to me. Films, movies, I don't think like that. You give me good work and I'll do it. I started my career from television and I know it's a cliche but television has made me who I am. By the time I finished Koshish - Ek Aasha, I was a known name, so I'm never going to diss television as a medium. I did diss the content that was being aired but then who didn't. Being a part of the masses, it's not easy to connect with the content that was on air, or do it, or beat your own roles. I'd played the good bahu, I'd played the bad bahu, I was like 'Aur kitni type ki bahu banungi main!' But then Nikhil Advani approached me with Prisoners of War with all seriousness and I was sold from day one.'
'The character that I'm playing, she's nothing like the wives we've seen on TV in the last few years. I was told, why are you playing the mother of two teens, you don't look like it but, frankly, it didn't matter to me. We have a story, we have a good story, and we're sticking to it. I love playing Nazneen Khan, and kids, age, marriage - none of that matters to me.'
On the evolution of women's roles in Bollywood
'Women roles in Bollywood are finally changing too but I have never cared about these things, I was never completely Bollywood-ised. Though the change in Bollywood is very noticeable. A couple of years ago, women like Richa (Chadha) and Radhika (Apte) wouldn't have reached where they have so quickly. Now, you know of them. They are good actors and you know of them. Earlier it took a very long time for that genre of actors to get themselves known. There were very few of us who were known. Actors like me have sat at home because we chose not to do the typical roles that were given to us. Today, these actors are lucky that they've come at a time that they don't need to sit at home, nobody needs to sit at home because there's so much good work happening everywhere.'
On the absence of good work post-Saathiya
'I went through a lot at that time. A good role like Saathiya would come followed by nothing and I would vanish again. I didn't know what to expect. I threw myself into the big, bad world of cinema without knowing anything about it. I was very content with television till I wasn't. I needed a break. Saathiya came to me and I did it. But constantly, in my head it was just like, 'Now what, now what?' Because honestly, somewhere inside me, I felt that I didn't belong to the film industry with the way it was at that time. After that phase, I got a film like Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II, and I loved films once again. I didn't know what that genre was called but I wanted to do more of that. For the first time, I could say that this is the kind of cinema I want to do but it was never done. So I went through a lot of shit in my head and I felt really lost.'
On surviving the bad work and not walking away
'Films and commercial cinema did come to me. The typical roles which were pitched like, 'Arey, iske opposite role hai,' 'Uske saath ki film hai' and I would almost say yes but then say no in the end. Arshad Warsi, who is a very dear friend of mine would tell me, 'Abhi commercial cinema mil raha hai kar lo, baad mein Shabana Azmi ban liyo.' But I couldn't. I really couldn't see myself in those roles. That phase was obviously not easy but it was all my choice. Today, I'm glad that I had the resilience to hang on, to stay and not walk away. I did consider it, honestly, to walk away from things completely but I didn't and I'm glad I didn't.'
On being tagged 'arrogant' for rejecting bad film roles
'All those choices sort of define who I've become now. Today, I am getting the right kind of roles. Angry Indian Goddesses happened and I'm glad that I'm back with the kind of work that I want to do. There was a time when people were confused about who I am. They'd say, 'Oh, she's so arrogant!' because saying no to a film was considered arrogance at that time. The people were like, 'Arey, aapko heroine ka role de rahe hain, ab kya jaan loge kya aap. What do you want?'
On being a feminist and owning the title
'I have always been a feminist and I have always taken complete pride in that. And I really don't know why there's a big hullabaloo around being a feminist. I really don't get it. If you understand what it really means, it'll be just another term in your vocabulary. It's that basic. I don't get the whole, 'Arey yeh toh feminist hai,' thing. Matlab jaise koi gaali de rahe ho. I don't get this discussion honestly because it's who I am, it's a part of me and I really don't know any other way to be.'
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