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].”

When we get on a call with Manoj Bajpayee, he opens the conversation, saying, “You’ll be proud of me by the end of this year.” We immediately respond that we’re almost always proud of him and his films. Easily one of the finest Hindi actors of our generation, Bajpayee has built a robust filmography, and shone bright last year with Gulmohar, Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai, and Joram. For 2024, he has an equally diverse slate, beginning with Netflix’s crime series, Killer Soup that also stars Konkona Sen Sharma and is helmed by Abhishek Chaubey.

“What I’m looking forward to in 2024 is the result of my love for a variety of genres,” says Bajpayee. “Last year, if I had the middle-of-the-road Gulmohar, I did a content-heavy project like Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai and an independent movie, Joram. Similarly, this year, there will be mainstream, middle-of-the-road and independent cinema. I begin with Killer Soup, then there is the [sequel to] Silence… Can You Hear It?, director Raam Reddy’s Pahadon Mein that is travelling to many film festivals, and Kanu Behl’s investigative thriller Despatch.”

This year, the actor will also have a brush with production, with Bhaiyya Ji. While he had produced Missing (2018) under the banner of Manoj Bajpayee Productions, Bhaiyya Ji will mark the launch of Aurega Studios that is headed by the actor’s wife Shabana and his business partner Vikram Khakhar. 

“Shabana is handling everything, including the creatives and administration. Bhaiyya Ji is a larger-than-life character from the hinterlands of north India. The film is inspired by a true incident. The story was on my mind for years. I wanted to make a middle-of-the-road movie, but director Apoorv Singh Karki was intent on making an action entertainer. Our association on Bandaa has been so good, and he was so insistent that I had to give up that thought. It is a mainstream, formula film with lots of action. That said, it’s not a mindless entertainer, it has my sensibilities.”

Interestingly, Bajpayee has also written the story with screenplay by Deepak Kingrani, marking the actor’s foray into screenwriting. “People don’t know that side of me—that I am a writer too. I stopped writing after I left theatre. Until then, I used to write street plays. I left it as acting takes so much time, and I put in so much passion into every role that I play.”

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.”