Tejaswini Pandit to play major role in Samantar 2

The second season of MX Player’s hit Marathi web-series Samantar (2020), which wrapped up last month, sees Sameer Vidwans step into the shoes of the first season's director, Satish Rajwade. The show stars Swwapnil Joshi, Tejaswini Pandit and Nitish Bharadwaj. 

Pandit told Cinestaan that the second season would be different because of the new director. “With the change in directors, there is a change in the crafting as well. Even though the characters are the same, the acting style becomes different. With every director, you start performing differently. The technical team is also different,” she said during a recent interaction. 

Pandit revealed that she will have a longer screen time this time around. “In the first season, I was a supporting character,” she said. “I just had a few scenes. But I was told from the onset that I have a major role to play in the second season. I feel we have all done justice to what was given to us.”

Samantar is based on the book of the same name by author Suhas Shirwalkar. It tells the story of a middle-class man named Kumar Mahajan (Joshi) whose life isn’t going the way he thinks it should. Pandit plays his wife. When Mahajan visits a palmist (Jayant Savarkar), he realizes that his lines are similar to that of an elderly person named Sudarshan Chakrapani (Bharadwaj) and that his future is the latter’s past. 

The first season ends with a mystery woman entering Mahajan’s life. Pandit tells us that this is a pivotal point in the story. “There is a surprise coming your way. We ended the first season with the question of who is that [new] woman. She is an important character. She is played by a known and fabulous actress,” she said. 

Asked about teaming up with Joshi again, she was quick to say, “He is a lovely boy! It is always enjoyable to work with him. We have been cast together for the fourth time. That is because we enjoy each other’s company a lot. There is a nice give-and-take among us. And we are very good friends behind the camera. That transforms onto the screen.”

Pandit added, “I am always asked who is the smartest actor in the Marathi industry. I feel Swwapnil Joshi is one. He is technically very sound. There is a lot to learn from him.”

The actress has completed more than a decade and a half in the industry. Looking back on her journey, she said, “It wasn’t an easy ride for me because I have no godfather, though my mom [Jyoti Chandekar] has a theatre background. But when I entered the industry, I told my mom I didn’t want to take her name. I want to prove my mettle; whether it’s success or failure, I want to own it.” 

She added, “Today when people know her as Tejaswini Pandit’s mom, it feels really nice. This also makes her happy, to see I did what I had said I would do...to see I have my own identity.”