Maanvi Gagroo, who first broke into the Indian web-series scene with Pitchers, is back to the small screen with the second season of Four More Shots Please. In a conversation with G20, she reveals more about her character and life under lockdown.
Q. Tell us about the new season of Four More Shots Please? Do we see your character take a new turn?
A. Let’s call it the pendulum effect. At the beginning of the new season, Siddhi seems a complete opposite of what she was in season one. She’s exploring herself, her options and a lot more. Somewhere in between making sense of herself and the world around her, she finds a balance. Her character develops beautifully, and for that one has to watch the show.
Q. How was the experience of working with your fellow actors?
A. It is great working with a team you’re already comfortable with. There are no initial awkward moments, no unfamiliarity. We’re starting from where we left off. Much like in the show itself.
Q. How has been your life under self-quarantine?
A. I’m actually quite a homebody, so not going out is not something I have to cope with as such. I’m taking this time as a blessing in disguise, to rethink, regroup and refresh. And now I’m worried how I’ll never get used to life as we knew it.
Q. Your character was loved by all. Are you worried that you might be typecast as a bubbly, funny girl?
A. No. I mean if you, as a viewer, don’t typecast me as a bubbly, funny girl. As an actor, I can’t be worried about how people are going to perceive me. I may, from time to time, worry about people’s opinion of my work but how they ‘slot’ me is something I’ve learned to look beyond. Often, I have been offered parts that were of a chubby girl but were not substantial enough. They were either there for just the comic relief or they were defined by their physicality. I have worked hard to not give in to that. I can show you my last year›s report card with Four More Shots Please, 377 Ab Normal, Tripling S2, Ujda Chaman and then Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhaan for diversity of roles, but then ‘typecasting’, as a concept, hardly follows logic.
Q. Have you felt the pressure to adhere to a certain body standard, in the entertainment industry?
A. I have felt the pressure, yes. Gave in to the pressure, no. I mean we all feel pressured to adhere to these beauty standards in life, forget in the entertainment industry alone. And I don’t see beauty as something that needs external validation. A beautiful person is beautiful even if you don’t hear anyone calling him/her beautiful. And everyone has a different definition of beauty.
Q. What prompted you to pick acting as a career?
A. It really was this one line in a review of my first film, Aamras. It read: “Maanvi Gagroo stood out as a performer”. That was it.
Q. Your style mantra.
A. Dress for yourself and you’ll never go wrong.