Prachi Desai became a household name with her debut TV show Kasamh Se (2006) and later began her Bollywood journey with Rock On (2008). She followed it up with films like Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, Rock On 2, Azhar and Bol Bachchan. However, that didn’t translate into more interesting work on the big screen, but now she is back with OTT and hopes to make the most of it. In a conversation with us, she talks about the transition from TV to films, her career choices and the lack of guidance in her Bollywood journey. Excerpts:

During and after the pandemic, OTT changed everything for writers, directors, newcomers and even for actors like Manoj Bajpayee and Vijay Varma, who were known names, but their potential wasn’t fully tapped. In my case, I could have never imagined playing an undercover cop in a typical Bollywood film, but web films like Silence 1 and Silence 2 gave me the opportunity to break barriers and do something different. OTT was a breather for actors who had to wait endlessly for films to be financed and eventually released in theatres.

I was only 17 when I started doing Kasamh Se and was shooting six episodes a week. My world changed overnight when I won Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. And at 19, I was suddenly the lead actress in Rock On, opposite Farhan Akhtar. It was an incredible opportunity, but after Rock On, nobody remembered that I was a 19-year-old, and I think I got slotted in the older woman category. I came from a humble background; my parents are teachers, and people didn’t realize that unlike others, I did not grow up at parties, and neither did my dad make films. I became a victim of lazy casting. I, too, made errors in choosing the right projects as I did not have a production house or an agency guiding me. I had to make a living and establish myself in Mumbai, so I accepted what was offered to me. As a young girl, I made mistakes because I wasn’t sure what was good and what wasn’t. But if I reflect on my journey, I feel gratitude and give myself credit. Now, thanks to films like Silence on OTT, actresses like us are no longer told that female actors have a shelf life.

When I did Kasamh Se, I got a lot of love from people in India and abroad. When you receive such adulation, how do you go against it? Many people advised me that I should change my image, but I found that forced. I could never fight the image of being a TV actor. In 2006, I was at the peak of my career when I was offered these big-budget films. That’s because Farhan and Abhishek (Kapoor, director of Rock On) did not have that notion about me being overexposed. Otherwise, the casting process is quite conventional and generic in the industry. There are five names which keep circulating around and the bifurcation is made based on whether you are considered an A-list actor or a B-list actor. It is not on the basis of the role or whether you suit it.

Now, the criteria would be a finite show, which does not last more than six episodes. Back then, I was younger and had nothing to lose. But now, I have evolved and am a different person.

I have found this freedom and independence, which I am enjoying right now. When things happen, my parents will be happy, too, but I am not craving it. I am glad that whenever good things happen now, I will be a more mature person and open to it.

Three years after Silence: Can You Hear It? (2021), Prachi Desai has returned with its sequel, Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout. Director Aban Bharucha Deohans’ thriller has offered many things to Desai, beginning with the opportunity to work with Manoj Bajpayee.

“Working with Manoj sir is a mix of emotions, because you are fan-girling, you are also being the co-star who is there to deliver. Sometimes, you are nervous, other times, over-enthusiastic. There is so much to absorb by just observing him,” she smiles.

Desai made a winning film debut with Rock On!! (2008), following it up with hits in Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai (2010) and Bol Bachchan (2012). However, she saw a lull in her career after Azhar (2016).

“After Azhar, a couple of my films got delayed. Then COVID hit. So, that time went by. When Silence came my way, I was happy that a female director could see that regardless of [my soft features], I could do any [role].”

From the start of her career, Desai has been tagged as the girl-next-door. ZEE5’s Silence, which sees her as a tough cop,  helped her fight that typecast. “All actors get boxed—someone is known for action, someone for comedy. Initially, you may say, ‘Why are they boxing me? I want to do so much more.’ Or you may want to embrace that and make the most out of that [phase]. But we’ll never be satisfied [being uni-dimensional].”

She credits the director for not only imagining her in an action role, but also bringing a nuanced depiction of cops. “It was important to show people that just because we are used to seeing [tough] cops on screen, that is not the only kind. Similarly, there are different kinds of actors. Just pouting doesn’t make me an actor.”

For the past three years, one question has persistently followed Manoj Bajpayee: ‘When are you starting The Family Man’s third season?’ The actor finally has an answer. “In another 20 days, I will start the show,” he smiles.

That should satisfy fans who have been eager to see more of their favourite spy Srikant Tiwari after the second season streamed in 2021. It’s not the fans alone; Bajpayee says he too misses the character and the universe created by Raj-DK. But he is equally aware of the audiences’ high expectations from the series after the past two seasons’ runaway success. That makes him work harder on the show.

“One has to keep in mind that when you are getting into it again, it’s new ground and you can’t take it for granted. You have to find a new process. You have to involve yourself in the preparation. My preparation is immense, it’s never linear.” 

It’s easy to be swept away by the frenzy around the much-loved spy thriller. But Bajpayee and the creators stick to the golden rule: take an edition on floors only when you have a powerful script in place.

He states, “The Family Man has now become a kind of a cult series. Fans want to see more of it. If the response is massive, go with the audience and think of a great script for the next one. But without a [good] script in place, don’t start the next instalment. The learning is don’t try to rush it. Write a great script, go through it again and again, and when you are truly satisfied, only then think of making the next part.”

The actor applied the same learning to his next release, Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout. As he reprises his role of ACP Avinash Varma in the sequel to Silence: Can You Hear It? (2021), he says the positive response to the first film encouraged director Aban Bharucha Deohans to take the story forward.

“The [makers] got a massive response. The audience wanted this franchise to go on for some time. When I saw fan messages, I realized that a film can generate so much curiosity on streaming platforms that fans want to witness it again because they aren’t satisfied with only one film.”

Making her debut in Bollywood is a big step for Parul Gulati, who has built her career in television and web shows. That her maiden Hindi film would be one that is led by Manoj Bajpayee, was the icing on the cake. “I had seen Silence... Can You Hear It when it was released on ZEE5 during the lockdown. When they told me the part was for the sequel to the film, I was determined to give my best in the audition. I asked for two days to prepare nicely because I wanted to land this role,” says the actor, who was told two days later that the role is hers, if she chooses to accept it.

While Gulati composed herself when director Aban Bharucha Deohans offered her the role in Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout, she cried tears of joy after receiving the news that her hard work had paid off.

“My character Aarti is a handful and very different from who I am. She is a corporate woman, so I dressed in one of my best office attires and prepared a one-and-a-half-page monologue. I asked the casting director to give me all the input the director had suggested for the role. I wanted to impress him with the audition. After all, Manoj Bajpayee is one actor everyone wants to work with at least once in their life. I was overwhelmed when I got the role and had tears in my eyes because I hadn’t signed any work for some time,” says the actor, adding that though she has less screen time, Gulati was a nervous Nellie on the first day of shooting.

All his co-stars attest to the fact that Bajpayee is a prolific actor, but sharing screen space with him, Gulati says, was an eye-opener. She shares, “They normally say, ‘Never meet your heroes’, but I am so glad I met him. What I love the most about him is that, being a big star, I thought he would try to tell me how to perform. But he let me be. I just looked at him and hoped that someday I would be able to act like him. He is such a great energy to be around, and I have huge respect for him. Just being in the same room and frame as him is a [privilege].”

There is something about whodunits that lends itself well to a franchise. Manoj Bajpayee would agree. In 2021, the actor headlined Silence, a thriller that saw him as a cop investigating the murder of a retired judge’s daughter.

Now, director Aban Bharucha Deohans, who had helmed the first part, has developed its sequel. The second part will see Bajpayee reprising his role of ACP Avinash Verma, who is tasked with a new case. Prachi Desai and Arjun Mathur will join him in the thriller.

Yesterday, Bajpayee kicked off the shoot in south Mumbai. Many of the locations used in the first instalment, including the police station, will be replicated. The director plans to shoot Silence 2 in a start-to-finish schedule in Mumbai, wrapping it up by September.

Bajpayee is ecstatic to return to the world of the ZEE5 film. To him, it not only marks his reunion with the director, but also presents the opportunity to lead a gripping suspense thriller—a genre that he personally enjoys. He says the compelling plot made him instantly give his nod.

“The love and appreciation I had received for Silence was overwhelming, and it motivates me to deliver my best with this new project as well. As an actor, I always seek to challenge myself and explore diverse characters. ACP Avinash has been one such remarkable journey.”

Five years after the release of Rock On 2 (2016), Prachi Desai returned to the screen with Silence... Can You Hear It, a series that marked her debut in the digital space. She was happy to wait for the right content to come her way rather than be part of projects that didn’t challenge her.

She shares, “Not being on the screen post Rock On 2 didn’t deter my spirit. I was okay not doing films during the past few years. I spent my time being engaged in things that can help hone my craft. I watched a lot of content. That helped me understand what I want to do.”

Desai, who will be seen playing important parts in Kosha and Forensic, says that the past few years helped her understand the content that she wants to be a part of. “My approach to my craft had changed,” she remarks, adding, “I had made this conscious decision a few years ago. I want to do something that has more substance rather than just playing the lead actor’s wife or girlfriend. I want more meat to bite now.”

While she has been taking it slow in the past few years, the actor, who turns 33 today, is glad to be spending the day doing what she loves the most. “This birthday, I will be on the sets of Forensic, in the lap of nature, tucked away in the hills and mountains of Mussoorie where the clouds and mist play hide and seek and literally pay us a visit on land,” she says.

Times are tough and so, this birthday will be about being thankful. “After the year we have all had, I am now more grateful for everything. I am trying to make the most of each moment. Waking up to this piece of heaven is making me count my blessings,” Desai concludes.

“I am a secure and strong-headed person, which is why when I decided I needed reinvention in terms of the roles that I was doing, I was willing to wait for the right parts,” says Prachi Desai, who after Rock On 2 and Azhar in 2016, was recently seen in a digital film, Silence, co-starring Manoj Bajpayee. “But you can’t know if you will get the roles you want in a year or a month. There have been certain roles that I did with ease and enjoyed playing, but they were getting repetitive. I am the queen of my own life and never take any pressure regarding work,” the 32-year-old says.

Desai agrees that there are certain pressures, not just about working or being seen on screen but also paying bills. “Had I let that pressure get to me, I would have agreed to all the offers that came. I was offered roles by great directors, but I felt they wouldn’t benefit me. Being the limelight wasn’t my goal,” she shares.

Desai started her career with TV and looking back, she feels, a girl out of no where, making it in the entertainment industry is a huge deal. “I never imagined that in my 12th standard I would be picked to play a lead in a daily soap. In two years, I would see the best side of TV fame. Because of that break, I got my debut with Rock On!! (2008). We should give credit to ourselves for doing one film or 20 films, for making our choices, journey and success. I feel, it is only the industry that decides the level of fame one has. Everyone is different in their own way,” she says.

Over the past week, Manoj Bajpayee and wife Neha have been quarantining at their Andheri home, their daughter Ava Nayla a few rooms away. The actor, 51, who tested Coronavirus positive last week, says his first priority is to ensure his daughter’s safety. “She is kept away from us in the same house. It has been a difficult time for us, knowing that we have our little one at home,” he says.

Bajpayee was shooting for Kanu Behl’s Despatch when he was diagnosed with the virus. The film’s shoot was immediately brought to a halt. Only a few days earlier, the director too was down with the infection. One to believe in being safe rather than sorry, the actor says he practiced caution over the past few months as he dubbed for The Family Man 2 and filmed Despatch. “I have followed protocols to the T. I have given dates to people shooting back-to-back. I feel frustrated when this happens [not because of] my fault, but due to somebody else’s carelessness.”

Currently on the road to recovery, he emphasises the need to stay vigilant. “We don’t have any symptoms now, but [the disease] is unpredictable. Suddenly, it throws up some symptoms or [body] pain. It’s better to be careful.”

Work, however, hasn’t stopped for Bajpayee. He is promoting the upcoming ZEE5 release, Silence: Can You Hear It? from the confines of his room. The actor, who plays a cop investigating a murder case, says he is glad that director Aban Bharucha Deohans gave him an opportunity to explore the mystery genre. “My character is a quick-thinking guy, and has a quirky sense of humour, which attracted me to him. I have always been choosy [about my projects]. There have been a few [choices] that didn’t go down well, but I embrace all my bad decisions.”

Prachi Desai is back on the circuit after almost four years. The actor believes that the break, though unplanned, was necessary as it afforded her the chance to reassess her career. “I started working so young, and then came a point where I needed to reinvent myself. [I was feeling limited because] at the end of the day, you have to pick from the choices that you have. Now, I want to do a variety of roles. So, I let go of many projects that came my way. The wait for the right role was worth it,” she says.

Her search for a compelling role ended with Aban Bharucha Deohans’s directorial venture, Silence: Can You Hear It?, which sees her playing a cop. To Desai, it’s not surprising that it took a woman director to offer her a character far removed from her girl-next-door roles. “I am glad that someone decided to offer me a cop’s role. When I was given the brief, I asked, ‘Are you sure?’ It’s amazing that she came to me with a fresh perspective because usually people consider you for a role basis the parts you have essayed before. So, it took a female director’s debut to see me in a new light.” Another incentive was that the film gave her a chance to work with Manoj Bajpayee.

Having been part of television and films, Desai is upbeat about foraying into digital entertainment with the ZEE5 film. “OTT has been an eye-opener for a lot of people. In films, too many industry insiders have been churning out the same content over and over again, making it repetitive.”

Arjun Mathur had a fruitful 2020, earning a Best Actor nomination at the International Emmy Awards for his performance in Made in Heaven, and delivering a promising thriller in The Gone Game. Three months into the year, the actor is set to kick off 2021 with the murder mystery, Silence Can You Hear It? For Mathur, the Abaan Bharucha Deohans-directed venture is special as it marks his first collaboration with Manoj Bajpayee. 

“Working with Manoj Bajpayee was a fantastic experience. He brings so much to his roles with his instincts that I took several acting tips from him during the film’s shoot,” says the actor, transforming into a fanboy.

In the thriller, Bajpayee plays a hard-nosed cop investigating the mysterious disappearance of a woman while Mathur essays the role of a politician who influences the case. “My character is quite the gentleman. I play an MLA who is a new-age variant altogether. He has a modern outlook on things and a rather unconstitutional school of thought,” explains the actor. The whodunit was shot last December over a start-to-finish schedule.

In his 26-year career, Manoj Bajpayee hadn’t attempted a whodunit until Silence came his way. What makes the Zee5 film all the more special is that it marks his first collaboration with a woman director.

“Aban Deohans and I have been friends since the early 2000s when her cinematographer husband Kiran Deohans worked with me on Aks [2001]. A year ago, when she narrated Silence to me, I wanted to do it because I had never dabbled in the genre before. It’s the first time I have received a script that lives up to all the elements of the genre,” says the actor, describing his collaboration with the writer-director as "enthralling".

"Not only did I work with Abaan, but Kiran was also around a lot. As a husband, he decided not to go behind the camera but instead look at the production work. His presence was a great contribution on set that enhanced the film. Abaan's daughter Tania was the Chief AD on the project. She is a talented and enterprising kid. It was set bustling with young people and I got to learn from fresh minds. I was so overwhelmed with the experience that when the film ended, I missed them and their energy so much - ambition and warmth," he adds.

In his usual candour, he jokes that there was another reason why he loved being on the film’s set. “Kiran’s set has the best food, so I was the happiest about that.”

Meanwhile, the fate of Bajpayee’s other digital offering, The Family Man 2, hangs in the balance. The suits at Amazon Prime Video decided to defer the release of the much-loved series after the streaming giant came under fire for their January offering, Tandav. “All of us were a little disappointed with the postponement. In this situation, Amazon has taken a decision for the good of the product that we are all very proud of. We want the show to be treated well, marketed well before it starts streaming. The show will come in Summers and that starts anytime right about now. We simply have to weather through the winter. I can’t wait to start the promotions all over again. In my opinion, this season is bigger and will deliver an unforgettable experience and I am curious to see the reactions of the audience.”

In an earlier interview to mid-day, Bajpayee had expressed optimism about video-streaming platforms coming under the ambit of the Information & Broadcasting Ministry. The recent incident where the Tandav makers had to tender an apology and remove the contentious scenes is being viewed as only the beginning of a systematic clampdown against OTT platforms. Does he feel disheartened by the turn of events? “I would only pray that there is no censorship. I am morally opposed to banning and censorship in any form. As a citizen of the country, I want creative people to have the freedom to express their opinions in the manner in which they wish to. At the same time, I would hope that they do so responsibly. OTT will lose its charm if it comes under Censorship. At this point, that’s the fear looming over every creative person. I want OTT space to be liberating in its basic nature. I want filmmakers to keep flying and soaring with ideas, creating fresh experiences with each outing."

Prachi Desai took fans by surprise when she was recently spotted in a wheelchair at an airport. The actor, who sustained an injury while filming for Silence, alongside Manoj Bajpayee, was reportedly shooting an action sequence. 

A source says, “It was a night sequence. Prachi was to climb and jump over a barricade. Unfortunately, during the rehearsal, her right foot slipped and she hurt herself. While she kept mum about the injury and continued shooting, she could no longer walk, after some time. When the team saw her limping, they noticed that she had a severely swollen ankle.” 

On medical intervention, it was learnt that Desai had damaged her tissues, and would need to defer filming for a while. “She has been advised bed rest for a week and will resume shooting after two weeks,” says the source.

Parag Maniar (BOMBAY TIMES; August 16, 2014)

Hemant Madhukar, son of veteran Telugu filmmaker K Baburao, is looking forward to Mumbai 125 Km that releases on September 26. “Usually, horror films revolve around old bungalows or palaces and are shot indoors, but my story takes place on a highway," he says.



Featuring Karanvir Bohra and Veena Malik, the film has stereoscopic 3D  technology that was seen in Hollywood films like The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Avatar. Since such high-end visual effects make the post-production time-consuming, he has had to delay the film's release by over a year.

Madhukar adds, “We've also used surround sound for a dramatic effect that will jolt the audience."

When asked why he was so fascinated by horror stories, the director says, “The horror genre gives the director a platform to showcase his talent. It is entirely a director's medium. It is his work that will speak. The other genres are more of an actor's medium. Also, I have been inspired by scary movies, The Ring and Dark Water being my favourites."

And here's the real news peg. Madhukar's next, Silence, will be the country's first silent horror film. About the movie, the director says, “It is the eerie ambience that will spark off fear. I will soon zero in on the cast and begin the shoot in October."

Madhukar is also committed to making a romcom for a production house with which he has a three-film deal