When we spoke to Shriya Pilgaonkar in 2024, she was brimming with excitement at the prospect of Guilty Minds’ second season. A year on, Prime Video has pulled the plug on the acclaimed courtroom drama that saw her as lawyer Kashaf Quaze. Naturally heartbroken, the actor says the episode has taught her that quality storytelling needs better marketing to reach a wider audience.

“I was heartbroken when I found out. Sometimes, I believe it’s not just a creative call, but a business decision. It’s overwhelming because so many people who watched it [believed] that because they loved the show, others must have watched it too. But I went for a talk show recently to a college, and none of the kids had watched it. It means the show did not reach them at the right time, or sometimes, things are not promoted enough. There are some shows that are hugely promoted, and other times, good shows are not promoted as much,” she rues.

Today, the industry is grappling with a recession of sorts, where projects are being cancelled even days before going on floors. It has left Pilgaonkar with a crucial lesson — now, she wants to make things happen. Perhaps take a leap into production?

“I would like to do production, but I’ll talk about it after I’ve done it. I’m hoping to crack a romantic story in a few months. I’m feeling brave and I want to show up for myself,” says the actor, who is currently seen in Zee5’s Chhal Kapat.

She adds, “I’m interested in collaborating with independent writers and directors. Actors like me may be appreciated for our skills, but quality work often does not [come our way].”

Like many of us, Namrata Sheth had devoured the American drama, Revenge, when it aired over a decade ago. Little did she know that she would star in its Indian adaptation one day. The actor was thrilled when she was asked to audition for Karmma Calling, led by Raveena Tandon.

“Guilty Minds [2022] had just come out, and I was waiting for the next opportunity. That’s when they reached out to me for the Revenge adaptation. I instantly had butterflies in my stomach because I had watched this show growing up and loved it,” she smiles.

In the Disney+ Hotstar series that also stars Waluscha De Sousa and Varun Sood, Sheth plays the titular role of Karma, who makes her way into an affluent family, headed by Tandon’s character Indrani Kothari, to seek revenge. She says sharing screen space with Tandon elevated her performance.

“We had an inherent chemistry on screen; that fieriness came organically. She is so good as this character that it became easier for me to play off her. She brought nuances to the role. I learnt so much from her during the process,” she marvels.

As a relative newcomer, it was an enriching experience for Sheth to work with Tandon, who has been in the industry for over three decades. What did she admire most about her co-star? Her refusal to be complacent, and her constant attempt to reinvent herself.

“My biggest takeaway was watching her passion and fire even after so many years in the industry. She still gives her all. To not get jaded by your experience and be hungry to reinvent is such a rare quality. She has it in abundance.”

Six months into the year, Shriya Pilgaonkar has already featured in two popular web series. After starting 2023 with Taaza Khabar, the actor recently reprised her role in the second season of Crackdown. A web series being renewed for a second edition is a sign of success, but it can be tricky for actors.

“The second season can’t be more of the same,” states Pilgaonkar. “In Crackdown 2, I did more [demanding] action sequences, and there was a strong emotional graph.”

Last year, Pilgaonkar was one of the most successful actors in digital entertainment, grabbing eyeballs with Guilty Minds and The Broken News. But there is a flipside to it. “I have noticed that because I have done more work in digital entertainment, people have started labelling me an OTT actor. I don’t know what it means. An actor is an actor across mediums. The industry is quick to label you.”

The actor, who forayed into Bollywood with Fan (2016), wishes to maintain a balance between movies and web series. “I want to work with certain filmmakers. I want to try to do more films. I’d love to do a good web series, but I also want to see myself on the big screen.”

Foraying into production is the next step. The decision stems from her hunger as an actor. “Sometimes, as an actor, when [the kind of stories] you want aren’t coming to you, it’s a good time to make something of your own. I am trying to actively build [projects] for myself.”

After playing powerful characters in two outings, Guilty Minds (2022) and Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo, Varun Mitra seems to “have tasted blood”. The actor claims it would be difficult for him to settle for anything that is not on par with his recent projects.

“Life has become harder after Guilty Minds and Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo. I also have Tejas [with Kangana Ranaut] coming up next. I have tasted blood working with good directors on good scripts. Now, I want more,” says the actor.

Mitra, who plays one of Dimple Kapadia’s sons in the Disney+ Hotstar series, feels grateful that despite a shaky start to his career, his journey lately has been fruitful.

“When Jalebi [2018] didn’t do well, it was devastating. That is when my anxiety about film releases kicked in. The good thing about a web series is that you are not dependent on a Friday. I questioned a lot of things about myself and worked harder [to get where I am today]. [When things get overwhelming], I do travel-based shows to keep me sane. When Guilty Minds happened, things fit into [the right] perspective, that this is how it was supposed to be,” he shares.

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Varun Mitra made his foray into films in 2018 with the Rhea Chakraborty-starrer, Jalebi. He has since gone on to do a host of web projects, including Bombers and Guilty Minds.

Looking back at his career so far, he says, “We all have to work to get rid of our own limitations. I worked on myself to do that as an actor and a performer. Also, I believe in being at the right place at the right time to grab the right opportunity. When I was not working, I was hosting travel shows, that kept me alive. [But] I feel that big break, which I can call the golden opportunity, is yet to come.”

Mitra, who will be seen in Kangana Ranaut-starrer Tejas, adds, “I want to be part of that one big film, for which my face will be seen on big posters. A film that everyone will talk about in every corner of the country, making audiences feel for the story and the characters.”

Mitra’s last outing, Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo co-starring Dimple Kapadia, Radhika Madan, Isha Talwar, Angira Dhar and Deepak Dobriyal, has been receiving rave reviews. It was initially titled Saas, Bahu Aur Cocaine, but the makers later decided against it to avoid courting controversy.

The actor believes it is a good time for the entertainment industry, with an evolution in the kind of content being churned out. “If five years ago, someone would have told me about a show like Guilty Minds or Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo, it would have been unimaginable. But a lot has changed in the last couple of years, content has evolved drastically. It is a good time, as we are making films and series with interesting content,” he says.

Shriya Pilgaonkar with mid-day’s entertainment editor Mayank Shekhar at the latest edition of Sit with Hitlist

Serendipity, I suspect, plays the starring role in most lives. But it’s something we kept going back to, over an hour-long conversation with actor Shriya Pilgaonkar, 33, who’s legitimately an OTT star in her own right, and has been a film buff forever. Enough to bleed her eyes bingeing on five back-to-back films on the big screen at Mumbai’s MAMI festival.

One of which was The Artist (2011) — i.e. before the French tour de force became the toast at the Oscars, and indeed before Shriya was an actor herself.

There is a strange connect she felt with the film’s lead actor Jean Dujardin on the screen, which went beyond the fact that she obviously found him attractive. She told her mother about it later, and ‘journaled’ it at night — about being inexplicably drawn towards this man.

“Cut to,” Shriya says — as all readers of screenplays are prone to narrate their anecdotes — she had cracked an audition for a part, that turned out to be for a French production, set in India, starring Dujardin.

Likewise, before she took up acting as a profession, like many film aspirants, Shriya was assisting a director, Megha Ramaswamy, on a short film, being shot at the Yash Raj Films’ (YRF) studio, where Shah Rukh Khan was shooting as well. Ramaswamy, also Chak De! India director Shimit Amin’s wife, knew SRK, and introduced Shriya to the superstar.

The nation’s charmer number one, and the actor to have cornered all desi female hearts, looked at Shriya, whispered, “Mashallah, so beautiful!” At that moment, Shriya recalls, she died!

Cut to, 2015: There was a moment in Shriya’s life, when during the day, she was shooting with Dujardin, and at night, with SRK — for Maneesh Sharma’s YRF production, Fan (2016), her Bollywood debut.

How did the latter happen? With auditions over three months, where she was testing for multiple parts, and even sitting in for cues for other actors, hoping to be cast, at YRF. It was one such tape — that wasn’t hers, and so she was totally relaxed on the screen — that “Maneesh (director) and Adi Sir (Chopra, producer) saw,” and selected her.

“I like how all these stories happen late at night — I got a call from Shanoo Sharma (YRF’s casting director). I just went over to my parents’ room, told them I’ve been cast as Shah Rukh’s love-interest. And I just shut their door, without waiting for their reaction! Didn’t know what to say.”

The parents being Sachin, and Supriya Pilgaonkar. Both of whom are prominent, professional actors. She belongs to the third generation in the film industry. Shriya’s paternal grandfather, Sharad Pilgaonkar, who she never got to see, was a producer. That explains how Sachin himself started early as an actor in his father’s film — that paved his path as a career child-actor, Master Sachin, from thereon.

Sachin, 65, has been an actor for 60 years! Supriya debuted with the Marathi film Navri Mile Navriyala (1984), directed by Sachin. Shriya herself appeared as an infant in one of Sachin’s movies. She doesn’t remember which one: “He’s directed 21 films!”

Reversing movie history, if you may — since men played female parts on screen once — Shriya first spoke for the screen as a little boy, basically “kid with boy cut”, to say, “Aunty, mummy ne achaar mangaya hai!”

That was her cameo in the hit TV show, Tu Tu Main Main. Those of a certain vintage might instantly remember the sing-song way Tu Tu Main Main was said in the title sequence, after which director Sachin would yell, “Action”, before the episode started.

Shriya followed director Sachin’s instruction in her debut film, in Marathi, Ekulti Ek (2013), too — which fetched her Maharashtra government’s film award.

Given the self-sufficient family unit of filmies, one would assume Shriya as an actor is an obvious career move. And yet, when she’d taken up a part in a short play as a stage debut of sorts, her mother simply looked at the adult child, for where she was headed, and sighed: “How predictable.” 

Until 14, Shriya was set to be a professional swimmer; her days centred on training for the sport that she was participating at the state-level: “The sportsperson’s is a tough life. Even in swimming, a difference in micro-seconds sets apart the winner from others. It consumes you.” She was training at Bandra’s Otters’ Club, and gave up on the sport, shortly after her coach passed away.

And it’s not like she had a Plan B, or any particular plan at all. As someone scoring high in class, she did what most over-achiever type kids do, in school, and later in college — everything. I learnt later that she was also the student-boss of Malhar, St Xavier’s College annual festival — it’s the kind of designation collegians, I notice, flaunt even on LinkedIn!

A big move she did make, Shriya admits, was actually the one that she did not — that is, to pursue her master’s at Columbia University, where she had secured admission. Columbia was her trying to postpone/evade the question about what she really wants to do next. Instead she enrolled in a film appreciation course at FTII, began acting in plays, directing short films, documentary, eventually auditioning for acting parts for movies.

That she is multi-talented could have a lot to do with her father Sachin. Best way to describe Sachin is as Rajshri Productions’ OG Prem. He was the lead in the super-hit Nadiya Ke Paar (1982), that got remade into Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994), with Salman Khan.

Another way to describe Sachin is as a singer, writer, producer, director…  Between her parents, Shriya rightly insists her father is the star — all about showmanship — while her mother is the ‘actor’, who can detach herself from her work as well.

What’s common between them is they can break a leg! For proof, the Pilgaonkar couple had famously won the maiden season of dance-reality show, Nach Baliye (2005), surprising many with their killer moves.

Which is also in common with the daughter, we learn. Shriya extensively trained in kathak, growing up — that, in fact, pretty much all Bollywood female actors do, at some point. As we speak, she’s finally put that talent to test in a “full dhamaal” song-and-dance routine, “for an unannounced film, produced by Emmay Entertainment.”

From her mother, Shriya says, she’s acquired ‘body-language’ as an important acting lesson. At some point in the conversation, she effectively shows us how her three well-known characters — lawyer Kashaf Quaze, from Guilty Minds (2022); journalist Radha Bhargava, from The Broken News (2022); sex-worker Madhubala, from Taaza Khabar (2023) — would sit, if they were in the same room.

And that’s self-awareness at the level of where the legs are placed, how the head moves, whether she is leaning-in (Kashaf), straight, and attentive (Radha), or totally carefree (Madhubala).

When she was offered the part of Sweety Gupta, on the other hand — a girl from the hardcore, Hindi heartland, namely Mirzapur, meaning Uttar Pradesh (UP) — an advice/warning she got was not to come across as the Maharashtrian girl that she is.

This is where her dad would’ve been the inspiration: “Unki zubaan bahut saaf hai (he has clear diction). One thing he told me is to always master the dialect, before you play any part.”

Sweety is as UP as they get. Shriya jokes people have come up to Sachin to suggest he couldn’t be Sweety Gupta ke papa. It’s this role of Guddu Bhaiya’s girlfriend in Mirzapur, she admits, that gave her “the taste of pan-India fame. Till today, there’s the Sweety-love everywhere I go, and I love that,” although her character died in the first season of Mirzapur (2018).

Guilty Minds, though, she reckons, is what brought her “critical appreciation” as an actor; she came into her own. There is some serendipity here too. In the sense that dad Sachin, all her life, she tells me, had wished to play a lawyer. It’s never happened. He’s drawn to law as a hobby as well — reads books, goes through minutiae of contracts, etc. 

It’s Shriya who got to dive deep into the world in ways that Indian screen hasn’t before. In terms of movies, Chaitanya Tamhane’s Court (2015) was a masterpiece on India’s legal system. Shriya agrees. That apart, for long-form content, the realism and authenticity of Guilty Minds is refreshingly first-rate. 

Much of it comes from the series creator, Shefali Bhushan, daughter of prominent jurist, ex law minister of India, Shanti Bhushan; sister of top lawyer and activist, Prashant Bhushan. Can’t get more insider than that! 

The writing was such, Shriya recalls, that there is a scene in the show, where her character Kashaf, and her team, along with the opposing lawyers, are in a village, fighting against a power plant coming up, that will wreck lives of locals.

Somehow, while performing that (third episode’s) monologue, detailing the human cost of development, Shriya broke down on the shoulders of Sugandha Garg (co-actor), after the director called cut: “I felt something. Maybe the line between the actor and character broke.”

As an actor, she says, she actively practices an attachment-detachment relationship with her work, given that the outcome, in terms of success, is out of everyone’s hands. But it’s hard to pretend you don’t care, after all the effort that’s gone in. 

Going back to her journal that night after Guilty Minds shoot, she wrote about what she had experienced doing the emotional scene. And that it doesn’t matter how the show is received, in terms of numbers of reviewers’ nods — this is something special that will stay, regardless. 

The Broken News, likewise, enters the world of television journalism, with Shriya’s character at the centre of the newsroom, navigating nuances, if not serious dilemmas of this profession. The apprehension, Shriya confesses, about being typecast as this everyday/important professional, did cross her mind. 

“Even my friends say which profession is left to play? But that’s not the point. Even among lawyers or journalists, there are different types.” To prep for her part of a reporter, she in fact spoke to (mainly former) journalists on how they’d respond to life’s choices, rather than intricacies of the newsroom itself.

Not be an ‘ageist’ about it — I’m an old man myself — but there is a rejuvenating aspect to hosting long chats with younger guests, as they delve into their early experiences. The memories are firstly fresh, rather than jaded from having gone through these same interviews/questions, over years. Shriya is one of the youngest to feature on the Sit with Hitlist series of conversations, before a live audience.

Also, you can probe — without, hopefully, coming across as a nosey uncle — on random fun stuff, like her favourite drunken story? Involved lots of wine, during the India-Pakistan match, at Melbourne Cricket Grounds — she had to keep drinking, because once India scored, you’re supposed to stay put in the same position, and repeat exactly what you were doing before!

Or how about check on important issues, like who’s she dating? Well, this chat took place on Feb 13. She said she didn’t have a date for Feb 14. So I’m guessing she’s single. Although she’ll be happy, she mentioned, if she somebody made a plan. If you search for this chat on YouTube, we’ve left her number there (of course, I’m kidding).

Most elementally though, the fact of a young star is you’re catching them on the curve. There’s so much to look ahead. I had looked up Shriya’s TEDx talk, from 2019, and already her professional life has transformed enough to render that talk premature. As would be this interview. 

Considered the past year alone for Shriya — The Broken News on ZEE5, Guilty Minds on Amazon Prime Video, Taaza Khabar (2023) on Disney+ Hotstar — you can’t escape on her on OTT. 

So much so that there’s stuff of hers on other platforms that I haven’t had the chance to catch: new season of The Gone Game on Voot, a show called Murder In Agonda on Amazon Mini? She’s the only actor to be nominated twice for Best Lead (Female) at the Hitlist OTT Awards.

The first time most Indians, including me, saw Shriya on screen was, of course, in Fan. I kept wondering where I’d met her before. It was at a party in Pune, when she wasn’t an actor, and she was pissed with movie critics, in general. I reasoned that film reviewing was indeed a low form of writing, because it often lacked empathy.

“At that time obviously I didn’t know I was going to be an actor, and that I’d have to change my opinion on critics,” Shriya laughs, pointing out that what had irked her after Fan were actually reviews that didn’t mention her at all. 

Which is fair. Indifference is the opposite of love, not hate. While the film was a YRF production, starring SRK, it wasn’t exactly the proverbial launch vehicle, associated with star-kids. In this case, Sachin’s daughter.

Shriya says, “[There are star] children, who get papped, groomed, branded, for two years, before they come as movie stars [on screen]. I didn’t want to be on a magazine cover, even before I was an actor.” That’s also Instagram all right. 

But the actual scene among screen talents has changed too dramatically to count on tested measures. And is it even about Bollywood anymore, as one supposes? 

Look at the galazy of stars getting created in the OTT space, starting with Shriya, for instance. It’s a medium that isn’t ‘television’ enough for actors to surrender their identity to their character, that carries on playing itself, over hundreds of episodes! 

Although exhibiting similar aesthetics, it isn’t exactly film, that is centred on the male lead, hustling over box-office returns. Let alone conversations on nepotism for debutants.

“Every role I’ve got is through passing an audition,” Shriya reveals, on the real serendipity surrounding her — right talent, at the right time. It’s like being an actor with a great voice, just when silent films have given way to talkies!

Shriya Pilgaonkar has been nominated in the Best Actor (Female): Series category for Guilty Minds and The Broken News.

The other nominees are:

- Amruta Subhash (Saas Bahu Achaar Pvt Ltd)

- Fatima Sana Shaikh (Modern Love Mumbai)

- Huma Qureshi (Maharani S02)

- Masaba Gupta (Masaba Masaba S02)

- Sakshi Tanwar (Mai: A Mother’s Rage)

- Shefali Shah (Delhi Crime S02)

There are 16 categories that the public can vote in. Log on to www.radiocity.in/hitlistott to cast your vote.

Voting lines close on February 22.

During Shefali Bhushan’s growing-up years, dinner-table conversations were always about the law, thanks to her father — the late Shanti Bhushan, former Minister of Law and Justice of India — and grandfather Vishwamitra Bhushan. Not surprising then that Shefali’s years of subconscious learning have led her to make Guilty Minds, one of the finest courtroom dramas to have come out of Indian entertainment in recent times.

Fascinating cases and realistic treatment were the biggest wins of the Shriya Pilgaonkar and Varun Mitra-led series. Shefali, who has bagged a Best Creator/Showrunner nomination at the mid-day and Radio City Hitlist OTT Awards, says research was the backbone of the series.

“The writers’ room [comprised] co-director Jayant Somalkar, two lawyers Manav Bhushan and Deeksha Gujral, and me. While Manav contributed in the selection of cases, Deeksha made sure our arguments were consistent with the laws. Also, I included details that I have seen in my home, which is full of lawyers.”

Did her father give insights into the legal drama? “He read several drafts of the first few episodes, and enjoyed watching the show. In a scene, he is sitting as a lawyer who practices under a tree. He was keen that I give him a meatier role in the second season. Sadly, we lost him before I could do that.”

Shefali is currently working on the show’s second season. Guess we can expect some more intriguing cases, like in the opening season that explored many themes — from violence in video games, to the perils of artificial intelligence. Which was her favourite episode? “It’s the one about copyright violation claim around a song. Having studied Hindustani classical music, I liked the debate.”

Shefali Bhushan has been nominated in the Best Creator/Showrunner category for Guilty Minds.

The other nominees are:

- Neeraj Pandey (Khakee: The Bihar Chapter)

- Nikkhil Advani (Rocket Boys)

- Shreyansh Pandey (Gullak S03)

- Tanuj Chopra (Delhi Crime S02)

- TVF (Panchayat S02)

There are 16 categories that the public can vote in. Log on to www.radiocity.in/hitlistott to cast your vote.

Voting lines close on February 22.

Actor, painter, author and musician Suchitra Krishnamoorthi finds the present time an interesting phase for creative people.

The Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (KHKN, 1994) actor says, “I think it’s a very good time for artistes and others in creative fields. Everything is so fluid — no notions of success or creativity.”

Krishnamoorthi adds, “Now, it’s not only about films; there are other mediums like TV or OTT to explore one’s creativity. I see youngsters on Instagram, YouTube and other mediums doing so well. I may not know them, but my daughter talks about people having 30-50 million followers. So, the notion, concept, and consumption of success are very different from earlier days. For me, it’s all about art!”

The multi-tasker recently shot two web series and is geared up for her next too. “I am getting offered projects that are on par with my calibre. Earlier, what I was offered was simply rubbish, but now I am getting the kind of stuff that I will like to give my time and energy to.”

After being away from acting for many years, she says, “I decided to get back to work only after my daughter started at her college (Berklee College of Music, Boston). She has also shot for a teen love story. Though everybody was telling me that I was using it as an excuse, as a single mother, it was my choice to be with her and raise her. Then the pandemic happened, and now I am back in action.”

The actor feels blessed to still be loved and remembered by her fans. “In the Hindi industry, people remember me as Aana (character from KHKN) and in the South as Annu Pillai for Kilukkampetti (1991). I consider myself lucky and blessed that these roles became so iconic that even today I meet a lot of people telling me that they have watched my film over 300 times and what not!,” she says.

In the series Guilty Minds, Krishnamoorthi will be seen as a South Indian lawyer, and the show will continue in season two. “Then, I am busy with Murgaon: The Closed File (2022) and another yet-to-be-announced series. On the music front too, I am looking forward to doing an alternate space album in the classical and fusion zone.”