Rajshri Deshpande: Characters With Grey Shades Can Destroy One Internally

In her career, Rajshri has tried her hands at complex characters in various movies and shows, including "Angry Indian Goddesses", "S Durga", "Sacred Games" and "Trial By Fire".

The actor found another unique story in her upcoming film “Privacy”, in which she essays the role of Roopali, a distressed surveillance centre operator, who embarks on an investigation into unusual events that occur during her shift.

"As an actor, I like layered characters, complex situations. I go for intense preparation for every character. It was complex because it has a bit of grey shade and finding and creating that space inside you, and dealing with that kind of subject without any negativity and judgement is a task. I'm a professional actor, I study, and I try to do justice to it,” Rajshri told PTI in a virtual interview.

It wasn't easy to play the character and the actor credited the film's director, Sudeep Kanwal, for helping her with the process.

"Grey and black shades of characters can destroy you internally. For that, you need to prepare yourself well. It's an internal process for the character which you are portraying,” she added.

Rajshri, 40, said she couldn't relate to a lot of traits of her character in "Privacy" but she believes in not being judgemental.

"With Roopali, I don't agree with what she is doing in the film. I would never follow her footsteps. But you cannot judge the character when you are portraying it. It is only (with me) for the time of that shooting process and you have to get out of it immediately.”

There is a need for more female characters that are "bold, flawed, complex and clever", the actor said.

"We should showcase all shades of women because there are hardly any films that are made, where a woman is a central character,” Rajshri added.

The actor, who was last seen in Netflix series "Trial By Fire" earlier this year, said her work as an artiste should not just provide entertainment to people but also make them "something to think about, something to take back".

"‘Trial by Fire’ is that kind of a project where you want to understand what's happening. It was the same with ‘S Durga’, like you finish the film and you are still with the subject. So such subjects excite me because I want people to remember the subject, and the journey of the character.”

“Privacy”, which recently had its world premiere at South Korea's Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, features an ensemble cast including Sandesh Kulkarni, Abhilash Thapliyal, Chhaya Kadam, Rushad Rana, and Sagar Salunke.