Shalini Pandey has had quite a journey. From doing drama in Jabalpur, where she hails from, to being the toast of the Telugu industry after the success of Arjun Reddy (2017), she has seen some incredible highs in her life. She has an pan-Indian face, which has helped her land both South and Bollywood films. In her recently released OTT film Maharaj, she plays a bubbly Gujarati girl who blindly trusts a religious guru and ends up losing her life. It was a layered role but she got the sur of it right. The film marked the debut of Aamir Khan’s son Junaid Khan. Shalini calls him the sweetest co-star she’s ever worked with and says he’s sans any starry airs. She held her own against Jaideep Ahlawat in the film. They had an extremely difficult intimate scene in the film but Shalini pulled that off with aplomb. Her excitement seeps through the airwaves as she sassily answers my questions on the phone. Excerpts:
What kind of advice would you give your characters from Arjun Reddy and Maharaj?
For Preeti, I would say, meet other men. He’s not the only guy, okay? I’ve seen what girls like Preeti are like; they completely fall for a guy like that. This is what I tell my sister before meeting one guy – don’t get stuck to the one love you have seen in school or college. You feel that’s the only thing, but when you grow older, you realise your values. She needs to grow as a woman on her own. Kishori is a very blindsided woman. I just wish she wouldn’t commit suicide. One shouldn’t have to take their life for something like that. And for both these women – please don’t centre your world around men. Men are amazing, but please get to know yourself first.
What was your reaction when Maharaj came to you?
Soon after Jayeshbhai Jordaar, I had a chat with Aditya Chopra, and he told me this is something they were looking for and thought I would be amazing in the role. I heard the narration and read the script. Sneha Desai, who’s the writer of this film, is incredible, and I know her work. It’s an important story. Since it’s a YRF film and I’m an in-house talent, I was more comfortable. It felt like they believed in me, and I believed in the character.
What were your first interactions with Junaid Khan?
My first meeting with Junaid was when we started the dance preparation. I don’t exactly remember what we spoke about, but we got along really well on the very first day. He’s an extremely chill guy. We got so much time with each other between dance preparation and readings that we were already friends by the time we started shooting. While he’s a debutant, I’m also fairly new to Bollywood. So I was also excited to just make a good film.
Is he a perfectionist like his father, Aamir Khan?
I don’t think about all these things. When I go on a set, and it might sound pretentious, but I genuinely just want to be an actor at that moment. Now, anything to add to it is a bonus. I didn’t want to have any preconceived notions about anyone. Even if I’ve heard certain things or have a certain image of someone, I like to believe that I will have my own journey with that person. It’s all about the vibe we create. And he isn’t a perfectionist. He’s somebody who really works hard. Sometimes he would go overboard, and I would tell him, “Dude, you’re doing it too much. Can you just rest?” And because we had become such good friends, we could talk like that. There were no airs. In fact, he gets really awkward. Junaid doesn’t like all the noise around him. If you did not know that he was Aamir Khan’s son, you wouldn’t know he comes from a film family. He’s the sweetest human being and co-actor that I’ve worked with, to be honest.
What goes into creating chemistry with a co-star?
Sometimes you don’t know how to approach certain things. Sometimes it comes down to your luck. If you vibe well with that person, then that chemistry is amazing. Then you don’t have to work on it too much.
What did it take to understand a character like Kishori?
I don’t have one answer to it. But the kind of roles that I’ve played in my life, be it Kishori in Maharaj, Jayeshbhai Jordaar, or Arjun Reddy, they’ve always been shades of women who are a little gullible, sweet, and sensitive, and I’m nothing like that. Kishori was more challenging because the other two still had some similarities. She is somebody who’s blindly believing something. So how do you enact someone like her where your belief system is completely opposite? But I didn’t think about it too much. I’ve grown up in a small town, so maybe subconsciously, I have also observed a lot of people around me who were like that. Of course, not to that level, but people who are blind when it comes to religion. My mum is super religious, so there are certain things that are picked from her. You have to just believe that it’s the character you’re playing, and that’s about it.
What went into filming that disturbing sex scene with Jaideep Ahlawat?
When I read it, I sat with my director, and he said I wouldn’t be uncomfortable. But when you do it, you realise it’s complicated. It’s not a lovemaking scene or an intimacy scene between lovers. When I did that scene, there were no intimacy coordinators, but my team was just so lovely and amazing. DOP Rajiv Ravi sir, for that matter, is a genius. So he placed me in a certain way where I didn’t feel uncomfortable. After I did the scene, I just wanted to breathe because I was getting anxious. I was not feeling okay. And I haven’t felt that in any of my work before, maybe because I’ve not done something like this before. I’ve done kissing scenes. But this was extremely different. As Shalini, I know that he’s taking advantage of her. But as Kishori, I have to believe that this is something she’s doing without understanding what she’s doing. I told my co-actors that I’m not feeling too good. And they were very understanding.
Did you talk to Jaideep before filming?
I don’t know why, but we didn’t talk before shooting that scene. He saw that I was getting a little nervous. I did that scene, and I got so anxious that I just sat down with him. And that’s about it. He understood. We all understand each other when you’re working in a community. You don’t need to say certain things. After that, not once did he make it weird for us to have a conversation. We just somehow got through it, like how we would have approached any other scene.
How hard is it to engage with material that is essentially quite triggering?
I feel that I switch on, switch off. There will be scenes, of course, that you’re unsure of. But sometimes it does affect you, but I have not been that person from the beginning of my career. Even Arjun Reddy has triggering scenes. Back then, I would sit with myself and tell myself, this is your character. This is not you. This is absolutely not you. Not everybody has the same perspective, and that’s great. We need to have different perspectives. Why someone is doing something is intriguing. When I am doing a character and something is triggering me, I do question my directors. Sometimes you have to do something that you don’t want to do. Your director says you have to do this. This is what’s in the script, and I’m not going to change it. So you forget everything else and just become your character because you’re a professional, and you’re being paid to enact a character.
What was it like working with Ranveer Singh in Jayeshbhai Jordaar?
It was my first film with a banner like YRF. So I was extremely curious and excited. I had a thousand questions, and I would irritate them. They were very sweet and loving people who patiently answered my queries. Ranveer understands technicalities so well, and seeing his passion for film craft helped me grow as an actor. Every day was a learning experience not just as an actor but also as a human being. With an actor like Ranveer, of his calibre, just observing how he approaches something was pretty amazing for me at that point.
How do you take appreciation and criticism? Do you read headlines about yourself?
Had you asked me this question three years ago, I would have answered you completely differently. Now, it’s such a boring answer, and it is the most honest answer I can give you. I don’t Google myself. It has made my life so easy because I can only concentrate and see what I can do better. Of course, I’ll take criticism from people who matter. Someone recently told me this – If your film works, that’s an accident. And if it doesn’t, don’t take it seriously because that was an accident too.
