Shriya Pilgaonkar, who is on cloud nine for her recent short film Sita being critically acclaimed, has made her mark with her stunning roles in popular series such as Mirzapur, Crackdown and many more. Sharing her thoughts on Sita, Shriya says, “I personally loved the medium of a short film, and I feel that it is a very powerful way of storytelling. The story of Sita is beautifully told from the perspective of a child. It also explores the theme of the tradition of mythology and gender.”
Without revealing too much about her role, Shriya adds, “My character is rather mysterious; we don’t know who she is and where she comes from. My character in the film is largely the conversation with the child, who happened to ask some really important questions. I had to work on a particular dialect for my role and the film’s director Abhinav (Singh) helped me with that.”
Sita talks about girl child-killing and the divide between the upper and the lower caste in a very morbid setup. The film is doing the rounds in the international film festivals, including Cannes’ Short Film Corner, Cannes Indie Short Film Awards, IFFSA, Toronto, Short to The Point, Romania, to name a few. “I am thrilled to see the response to the film and the way it has been received all over,” she exclaims.
Talking further about her future projects, she says, “I have finished four films, but they aren’t officially announced yet, so I can’t really speak about them. Next year, I have a legal drama that will release. I am also doing a comedy and an action project. I am dabbling with different genres. I am happy with the kind of work that is coming my way.”
Director’s cut...
Abhinav Singh |
Talking about Shriya, director Abhinav shares, “I am very happy to find my Sita in Shriya. She did absolute justice to the character. She looked the part, and she also owned the dialect. Being a Maharashtrian, she spoke the local Bihari language like a pro. In fact, I would like to share that when I offered this role to Shriya, she was actually reading a book based on Sita’s life.”
During the film’s making, the leading lady got the nod from the divine feminine herself. “Another strange incident happened at the shoot where we were shooting with Shriya. In the film, where Shriya is sitting is basically a shrine that has a figurine of Ram, Lakshman and Sita. And when Shriya sat there as her character, Sita separated herself from the figurine. It felt like an affirmation from the goddess herself,” he adds.
