Her face lights up when she sets foot in one of the biggest Ganpati idol shops in Mumbai. With Ganeshotsav (starting September 19) just around the corner, Sharvari can’t wait to welcome Bappa home.

In an exclusive shoot with HT City, the actor shares, “For me, to take a break from everything during this festival is non-negotiable. I can work every day of the year, but not during Ganeshotsav. For this occasion, I visit my village in Moregaon (Maharashtra). Ideally, I would like to be there for all 11 days of the festival, but sometimes, due to work, I can’t be there for so long.”

Her ancestral home, the 27-year-old adds, is the centre of all celebrations in the village. “There is a big temple in our village, but there is no Ganpati [idol] at any individual’s house. We (her family) have an idol that has been there with us for hundreds of years. So, every year, the entire village comes to our house for pooja and lunch every day,” explains the actor, who made her debut with Bunty Aur Babli 2 (2021) and is working on her next film,Veda.

For Sharvari, the year “begins and ends” with this festival. The actor, who leaves for Moregaon today, reveals that the Ganpati idol at her place has been with her family “since the Battles of Panipat”. “We also make an idol out of cow dung, stones and sindoor. After the celebrations, we submerge it into the river so that the things it is made of can go back to Nature... And I come back to Mumbai with positive energy,” she ends.