Know that feeling when a screen icon like Shabana Azmi posts your picture on their Instagram profile and “vouches” for you as a young actor? Shweta Prajapati, who comes from the village Mijwan (Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh), does.

“I saw her photograph and found it extremely evocative. It’s amazing the number of people who have called me up for this post,” the 73-year-old tells us, adding that she has followed the youngster’s journey since she was in class six, having also sent her to study theatre in Wardha (Maharashtra).

Prajapati has appeared in films such as the Cannes Grand Prix-winning All We Imagine As Light and Shaitaan. “She is in Mumbai now and struggling for the kind of look she should project herself in,” says Azmi, adding, “My advice to young people would be — don’t get into the trap of looking like a factory product.”

Stressing on the point about actors' looks, the veteran actor says, “Casting directors have told me in the past that dressing up, looking glam and pouting is not what they are looking for. They are looking for faces; they would rather see girls without makeup or notions formed on the basis of Instagram posts.”