Best remembered for Kyaa Hoga Nimmo Kaa, Kayamath and Ek Haseena Thi, television actor Sanjeeda Shaikh has now switched gears to the web world. Come this weekend, the actor will be seen in two back-to-back releases — Bejoy Nambiar's Taish on ZEE5 and Terrie Samundra's Netflix film, Kaali Khuhi. "When I got a call from the casting agency, I did the look test. Frankly, being a TV actor, I thought I would never get the projects, but I was proved wrong," exclaims Shaikh.

Over her 14-year run in showbiz, Shaikh had become one of the most popular actors in Indian television. However, over the past few years, she cut down on her television appearances, in a bid to explore uncharted waters. "I am a proud television actor; it is because of my work on the small screen that people know of me. But television gets monotonous after some time. Playing the same character in the same get-up for years can be repetitive. An offer has to be enticing for me to return to the tube at this juncture."

Where she plays a family-oriented woman in Taish, Shaikh essays the role of a mother in the Netflix horror thriller. She admits that the latter holds a special place in her career as it marks her on-screen union with Shabana Azmi. "My mother was elated to know that I would be in the same frame as the legend. She has been Shabana ji's fan since Ankur [1974]. Being with her was like going back to acting school. In our first meeting, she gave me a warm hug that put all my nervous energy to rest."