Mismatched and memorable
By Asjad Nazir
TALENTED actress Vidya Malavade has maintained a winning presence in cinema and drama serials since her star-making turn in superb sports film Chak De India (2007).
The powerful performances in diverse projects have shown off her impressive range and that presence has been particularly exciting in recent years thanks to the web space. She has enjoyed the art of creating unique characters and describes her journey as incredible.
Her recent successes include marvellous Netflix series Mismatched and new drama Bamini And Boys, which premiered recently on streaming site Hotstar. There are more winning projects on the way, including a complex character in a forthcoming web series.
Garavi Gujarat caught up with Vidya Malavade to discuss her journey, latest project, favourite binge watches, best advice she got and future hopes.
Which role gave you the greatest joy? Everyone loved Vidya Sharma in Chak De India and it was my most memorable. In recent times, Zeenat Karim of Mismatched gave me great joy as she is close to me and unlike me in a lot of ways. I have never played such a wild, animated character as I do in Bamini And Boys. It took me a while to get into her headspace.
Once I got there, there was no looking back. She is a funny child-woman and I love that.
Who have you most enjoyed working with?
I have really enjoyed being on set with all the actors and technicians. You always get to learn something from everybody. I am really enjoying working with the younger cast these days because they are so well prepared, so you have to up your game as well. They have this incredible energy. Whether it was working with all the people in Mismatched, Kaali and Flesh or Mr Shah Rukh Khan, everyone taught me something.
How much did the positive response to Mismatched mean to you? Mismatched was something that fell from heaven into my lap. It came to me literally two days before we started shooting. I was on my way back from LA and transiting in Dubai when I got a message about Mismatched. By the time I landed in Mumbai, they sent me the script and I read the whole thing. The next day I landed up in Jodhpur and we started shooting. Mismatched has done a lot for me and the response has been incredible. People have just loved Mismatched completely as a series. I am looking forward to shooting the next season in a couple of months.
Tell us about your Bamini And Boys? It was an incredible experience! It’s been a rollercoaster ride. We have shot two seasons in 35 days. And it was madness. It became amazing since we had an incredible cast, director (Ashish Ranglani), and crew. We got close and became like a family unit. It was a gruelling shoot, but I’ve had so much fun wearing all these clothes, dancing around and trying to look pretty. I have never done anything like that. I have had an absolutely wonderful time!
What is the best advice you ever got?
The best advice is to ‘never stop dreaming’. Dream your dream and work just a tiny bit towards it every day and watch them come true. This is the advice I give to everyone because it’s so true. The universe really conspires them to get to you.