Medha Shankar: I was fangirling big time on Kay Kay sir while shooting Shaadisthan

Medha Shankar is chuffed about the appreciation coming her way after her Bollywood debut film Shaadisthan premiered on Disney+ Hotstar this month. The actress played Arshi, who is obliged to fulfil her parents’ wish while she wants to live life on her own terms, in the movie that also stars Kirti Kulhari and Nivedita Bhattacharya.

Talking about her character and her preparations for it, Medha said in a statement, “Arshi is a regular 17-year-old Bombay girl with average dreams of going to college, making a name for herself, having fun with her friends and living a free life like any other 17-year-old. To prepare for my character, I created a personal, social and emotional life for her as a means to give a certain wholeness to her being and to understand her more deeply as a person.”

The actress said that she strongly believes in and supports the message the film sends out. “I could instantly connect to Arshi’s pain, angst and her whole emotional journey through this predicament, which started with fighting her parents, crying, pleading, running away and then finally surrendering to her fate. I would just genuinely feel her pain and despair, and glide into her emotional headspace,” the debutante added.

Medha also shared that she was delighted to work with the entire cast of the film, directed by Raj Singh Chaudhary. “Everyone brought such authenticity to their characters. Most of my scenes were with Nivedita and we got along very well from the word go. We always had our inside jokes going and would always be chatting and giggling off-camera, when Raj sir, our director would look at us smiling saying, ‘You know I can hear your jokes na’. Kirti is a super chill and fun person to be around and there’s so much to learn from her. I truly look up to both these incredibly strong actors and feel grateful that I got a chance to work with and observe such brilliant actors,” she said.

The actress also had a great time working with Kay Kay. “I was fangirling big time when Kay Kay sir came on set and asked him a lot of questions about acting and improvisation. Most importantly it has been such a valuable learning experience working with our director Raj sir,” the actress concluded.

Medha had also starred in Netflix’s British series Beecham House, directed by Gurinder Chadha. The actress will next be seen in Hotstar’s Those Pricey Thakur Girls.