Medha Shankr, who debuted with Gurinder Chadha’s British series ‘Beecham House’ (2019), came into the spotlight with Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s ‘12th Fail’. Her path to recognition spanned six years, a journey she now divides into “before-12th Fail” and “after-12th Fail”. She looks forward to pushing boundaries and exploring new horizons with every film. In an interview with Bombay Times, she discusses how her life has transformed since the success of ‘12th Fail’. Excerpts:

Medha believes it’s the power of ‘12th Fail’s content that saw the film win box office success and critical acclaim. She says, “The success and love received by the film makes it feel like a true cinematic experience. ‘12th Fail’ may not be star-driven, but it’s driven by acting, direction, and content, and look at what it has achieved.”

She adds, “Times have changed; the audience now prioritizes quality content, storytelling, and acting above anything else. Of course, stars play a massive role in drawing footfalls to the theatres, but ultimately, the story is the real hero.”

Recounting the challenges she encountered while pursuing her dreams in Mumbai, Medha says, “I come from an academically inclined family in Noida and was always a studious child. After completing my Masters in Fashion Management, I ventured into modelling. It was during this time that I decided to pursue acting. When I told my father about it, his initial reaction was, ‘Have you lost your mind?’ He believed that ‘acting mein toh woh jaate hain jo padhai mein kamzor hote hain’. It doesn’t help when you are not from Mumbai as you often hear exaggerated stories about the industry. However, I moved here and started working hard to establish myself. While my mother and brother supported me from the get-go, it took some time for my father to accept my career choice. Today, he is my biggest support.”

Talking about life before and after the success of ‘12th Fail’, Medha says, “People usually associate this achievement with the film’s success, but for me, just landing this part was massive because I knew many big actors were considered and newcomers were auditioned for it. After bagging ‘12th Fail’, I realized someone had finally recognized my potential. Life has taken a 180-degree turn. Big filmmakers I only dreamt of working with are showing faith in me, and no one is asking me to audition. Access to these wonderful opportunities was unthinkable. I have been in Mumbai for almost six years now, I bagged ‘12th Fail’ in the fifth year of my journey here. It wasn’t easy, but I don’t like to call it a struggle. It’s an overused term.”

For Medha, ‘12th Fail’ has been a breakthrough experience in more ways than one – thanks to filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra and her co-star Vikrant Massey. She shares, “Vidhu sir has a knack for portraying his female leads beautifully and Shraddha Joshi (her character in the film) was no exception. I was confident that once people watched the film, they would fall in love with me.”

And they sure did, catapulted her into the spotlight as not just a potential newcomer but as the national crush. “Both Vidhu sir and Vikrant keep telling me, ‘Stay the same, don’t change; this world has the ability to change people’. Vikrant is an incredibly wise person. When I received all this attention as the national crush, I remember him telling me, ‘Medha, just remember that everything is transient and focus on the right things’. That’s such a beautiful thing to say. However, I don’t know any other way to be. I enjoy success but don’t take it too seriously,” she concludes.