Prajakta Mali, who is known for playing girl-next-door characters in Marathi films, has portrayed a sex worker for the first time in Planet Marathi's web-series RaanBaazaar.
The political thriller, which was released on 20 May, has been written and directed by politician-turned-filmmaker Abhijit Panse.
The actress, who was seen earlier opposite Ankush Chaudhary in the rom-com Luckdown (2022), told Cinestaan.com that she does not follow any specific formula while signing up for new projects.
"We actors have four to five basic criteria for agreeing to do a project: quality of script, who is the director, which is the production house and, lastly, who are the co-stars," she said. "RaanBaazaar passes with a distinction, so I immediately agreed to be a part of the show."
RaanBaazaar was originally titled Raand Baazaar, reveals director Abhijit Panse
"The series is directed by Abhijit Panse sir and we all know how talented he is. Everybody wants to work with him. It is produced by Planet Marathi and has stalwarts like Sachin Khedekar, Mohan Agashe, Makarand Anaspure and Teju [Tejaswini Pandit] as my co-stars. Now, which actor would say no to this kind of project?"
But the biggest selling point of the series for Mali was the script. "After I was narrated the first episode, I started applauding. I immediately said yes to the series. I was so eager to be part of it that, honestly, I was ready to play a five-minute role," she said.
Two teasers and the trailer for RaanBaazaar have sparked a controversy with their explicit content. Mali said she had anticipated that the promos might shock a few of her ardent fans.
"As an actor, you always want to try something new," she said. "When your character becomes famous, the audience loves to see you in similar roles and this might lead you to get typecast, and that is why as an actor I always wanted to try and do something unique and break my image. And this series gave me the opportunity.
"I know that the audience might not immediately accept me in the role of a sex worker because they think of me as a sweet girl. But I'm sure once they watch the series all those who have already formed opinions after watching those short teasers will be forced to change them," she added.
The actress also urged the audience not to judge a series or any film based on previews. "Judging 400 minutes of content and immediately forming your opinion based on a one-minute teaser is wrong," she said. "So wait and see the complete series and then give us your feedback. We are ready to accept all the criticism after that. But please first watch the complete series."
Recalling her preparation to get into character, Mali said, "It's definitely not easy. I had to do everything to get immersed in this character. We went to Kamathipura [South Mumbai's red-light district] and spent a few days with these women, not just to understand their psyche but also to improve our knowledge about their daily activities, like what do they eat, where do they cook, how do they talk with each other. I also watched many films and documentaries on sex workers. Even watched random interviews of these women on YouTube."
But that was still fairly easy for Mali. The most difficult aspect of her character was getting used to how prostitutes speak and swear. "These ladies swear with absolutely no care in the world," she remarked. "And I have never done that in my life. So I had to practise swearing a lot because it had to look and sound natural. After a lot of practice, I finally managed to make it sound like these swear words are part of my daily vocabulary.
"Another trouble I faced was smoking a cigarette, I had never smoked before doing this series. And Panse sir told me that not only did I have to smoke cigarettes, but I also had to do it with a certain flair. I tried my best, but, frankly, I couldn't pull it off with conviction. I mean those who are pros at smoking will notice it."
This is the first time Mali is sharing the screen with Tejaswini Pandit and the actress enjoyed working with her. "Tejaswini is one of the best actresses in India right now," she proclaimed. "I really got a lot to learn from her. Because she has played such bold characters before, she also helped me during the shoot, especially when I would get nervous during certain bold scenes. She would guide me whenever I would miss the mark.
"Also, I believe that a lot of acting depends on reacting. If your co-actor is giving her best performance, you subconsciously end up raising your bar. This is what happened. Tejaswini gave such a fantastic performance that in response I ended up giving my best."
RaanBaazaar has an ensemble cast that comprises veterans like Sachin Khedekar, Makarand Anaspure, Mohan Agashe, Mohan Joshi, Anant Jog and Vaibhav Mangle. "Our series features stalwarts of the Marathi film industry," Mali said. "Unfortunately, my character is such that I don't get many opportunities to share the screen with them. I have a few scenes with Anaspure sir. But even getting your name featured alongside them is no small thing."