‘You need to have a sense of humour to survive’

From Sneha Geetham to her upcoming R-Balki film, Shreya Dhanwanthary is taking life as it comes, with a dollop of humour on the side

Born to a Hyderabadi mother and Lucknowi father, Shreya Dhanwanthary calls herself “biryani” — from the best of the worlds. In fact, she feels she is the best biryani one can be.

Shreya who had debuted in Telugu films over a decade ago for a lark is now on a roll with shows such as Scam 92, in which she played Sucheta Dalal and The Family Man series and the upcoming series Mumbai Diaries 26/11.

But she’s still surprised when we list out her works. “I react to it in disbelief. I am surprised. One keeps hoping that something like this happens and then there is a constant flux of good work that comes and one can only look at it with incredulity,” she tells us.

Even so, the actress believes Scam 1992 was the show that changed her career graph. In the series, she’d played the ‘authorbacked’ role of Sucheta Dalal to Pratik Gandhi’s Harshad Mehta. “Scam 1992 is sort of the point — it is like that pinned comment under photos. It was a pinnacle sort of moment in my career. The show has been talked about and it really provided me a platform to be seen,” adds Shreya.

HER TRIBUTE TO TRUTH SEEKERS

Moving from being a firebrand economic journalist to an on field reporter in the forthcoming show on frontline workers in Mumbai Diaries 26/11, Shreya describes her character in the upcoming series as a paradigm shift from that of Scam 1992.

“I play the role of a field journalist called Mansi Hirani, who covers events and incidents, and wants to climb up the ladder. And before you ask me, it is a far cry from my role in Scam 1992. It is a bit of a mishmash of a lot of journalists who were reporting on that day and has been fictionalised to a very large extent,” says Shreya.

The actress also points out that the particular story, about the horrors in a hospital on a regular day, has been covered in many formats and that they have a different spin to it. “The show is basically an ode to the frontline workers — a term we didn’t know till the pandemic,” she says.

“I don’t want to give away much though you will identify her with journalists and the various means they try to get a story. She is genuinely concerned about bringing out the truth.”

THE FUNNY KID ON THE SETS

As regards her Telugu stint in the 2010-film Sneha Geetham, she considers herself a kid. “The director was an alumnus of my engineering college. I was 17 and a moron then,” she says with a chuckle. “I still am. But I am keen to do Telugu films. And honestly, if they call me, I will jump at it. My mother also badly wants me to do a Telugu film.” Incidentally, Shreya is now working with R Balki in his next film with Sunny Deol, Pooja Bhatt and Dulquer Salman. “I get to work with such people and my behaviour on the set is ridiculous. I lose it every time I see them and I have embarrassed everyone on the sets,” she says, laughter rolling out in her words.

I have been enjoying this phase. It has been a decade now. You need to have a sense of humour to survive. Nothing has changed much because I have always wanted to be a part of telling stories, says Shreya who also has Loop Lapeta with Taapsee Pannu coming up next.