Sonali Kulkarni has always marched to her own beat — juggling theatre and regional cinema when her peers were Bollywood-bound. And her choices have held her in good stead. When it came to her web debut, the actor was certain she would take the plunge only if the content spoke to her. SonyLIV’s Whistleblower, which revolves around an admission scam, delivered on that count. Kulkarni discusses how her role of a news channel editor left her optimistic and the society’s apathy towards the growing corruption.

Edited excerpts from the interview.

When my director [Manoj Pillai] gave me the narration, he did not start with how important I was to the story. Instead, he told me the story first. We are a complex society, and even while leading our individual lives, we somehow contribute to this society. Wrong things are constantly happening every day. What is our take on them? As a news channel editor, my character Zainab Parker has the discretion to decide how she exercises that power. The character made me feel optimistic in these times of corruption. She is idealistic and has the courage to stay with an issue.

Whistleblower highlights that people are wrong, not the profession. Just because a few people went astray and sold their [ideals], the entire profession is criticized. My performance is a tribute to all the wonderful people I met in my life. Kumar Ketkar was my first boss when I used to write as a guest editor for Indian Express’ Loksatta. I had some fearless bosses who never [told me that] my opinion has to follow a particular narrative. I have been a part of this industry as a writer and actor, and I am empathetic towards every one of them.

The show is fictional, but we have taken impressions from real life. The series depicts reality throughout. For us, some subjects are pure, like education and medicine. We don’t want to think that a doctor will say, ‘Give me Rs 50,00,000 and I will ensure the patient gets a heart transplant.’ [In some ways], the education system is corrupt. I remember [years ago] when I was told that my daughter was speaking primarily in Hindi and is not fluent in English. This, when she was three! A child, who is learning to speak, cannot decide which language s/he is fluent in.

The show encourages people to be aware citizens and walk that extra mile. In Marathi, we have a saying: Shivaji janmu de punn koni doosryacha ghari. We all talk about our rights, complain about the things going wrong in our neighbourhood, but we don’t do anything about it. We are not willing to extend ourselves as we are comfortable in our own cocoons. The show will shake us out of our comfort zone.

I don’t think like that. I have made my own choices. I am proud that I worked in Marathi and regional cinema even before it became glamorous [with the OTT boom]. Today, we are talking about Bengali, Malayalam and Telugu films. We now know stars and directors from [regional] film industries. So, I am supremely proud of my choices since the beginning of my career. At the same time, I am also a proud homemaker. My industry didn’t tell me to sacrifice everything and immerse myself [in work] to encash my youth. I had wonderful teachers in Satyajit Dubey, Girish Karnad, and Jabbar Patel, who added insight to my life. I am ready to take on another 25 years in the industry.

In the entertainment industry, it’s widely believed that your first project chooses you, and you choose thereafter. If that is indeed true, what happens to an actor whose first series is a huge hit? That’s what we begin our conversation with, when we get on a call with Ritwik Bhowmik. The actor, who burst on the scene last year with the delightful Bandish Bandits, will soon be seen in Sony LIV’s upcoming show, Whistleblower. “During the one-year gap, [I was oscillating] between being confused and excited at the same time. It took me some time to find a role I’d fall in love with. The last one year taught me to be patient,” says the actor.

The show was an easy choice for Bhowmik. The series is told from the eyes of his character Dr Sanket, a bratty final year medical student who turns into a whistleblower of the flawed system that has turned education bodies into money-making machines. “Bandish released in August [2020], and I signed this in January 2021. I kept getting told you must be feeling the pressure [of landing the second project]. I had to ask myself, ‘Yaar, tu pressure kyun nahi le raha hai?’ But what people don’t realise is that as actors, we can only go with our instincts. We aren’t writers and creators who make projects happen. Whistleblower landed from nowhere. It was a powerful script, and in one read, I knew I had to do it. It is poles apart from Bandish Bandits. People who meet me call me Radhe because they know my character. With this series, I have to break the image of Radhe.”

However, a vital concern about the Manoj Pillai-created series is its timing. Over the past one-and-a-half years of the pandemic, doctors all around the world have displayed their unfailing commitment and sense of duty. Isn’t a story that discusses the corruption of the medical system ill-timed in the present day? 

“The series is set in 2012-13. Also, it doesn’t bring down the importance of the community in any way. The pandemic showed us how we need to give them strength. Our show delves into the period when people in the fraternity realised that there are hindrances that prevent [deserving] people from getting into medical colleges. We’re trying to tackle the issue of fake doctors, and how it affected the medical community at large. We’re discussing the malpractices and corruption of the past.”

We can’t help but sneak in a question about the next season of Bandish Bandits. Bhowmik’s voice chokes, as he says, “The loss of Ajay sir [Sharma, editor] and Amit sir [Mistry, actor] hit us hard. I can’t think of the show without them; they were irreplaceable for the series. Earlier, I wouldn’t understand the term, ‘The show must go on’. But now I do. I know we will make another season [soon].”