Hi! I’m so thrilled that we are in a conversation today, and firstly, I would just like to start with congratulating you because you have been the star of 2024!
Sharvari:Thank you!
And more so, not just with the cinema which has been on the cinema screen, but also the TV screens and Netflix itself. That also brings me to the fact that you started off your journey with Kabir Khan from the show itself, which was on an OTT platform. Having come so far in your career with so many milestones, how does it feel to get even more love with the viewership for Maharaj on Netflix?
Honestly, I think that I’ve just been very, very grateful that I got an opportunity like The Forgotten Army in the first place. That show will always be very special because I remember I was auditioning for almost five years before that, and I was only getting like two or three ads. I wasn’t really getting an “acting-acting” job. So for me, The Forgotten Army will always be that very special project where a director believed in me for the first time to do something long format.
And ever since The Forgotten Army, the amount of love that I’ve seen for Maharaj—which is just so, like, tenfold this time—and people have really, really been loving the songs of Maharaj and making tons of reels on Instagram. It’s just really, really sweet because, you know, it reaches globally. You can rewatch it, and it has the power to kind of, you know, people rewatch some scenes. It’s quite special because it’s available for people to watch again and again, and the fact that they have been doing that is the only reason why it kind of charts globally and all. So, it’s a really special feeling that after The Forgotten Army, which was on Amazon, I get to come on Netflix with Maharaj. It’s my first association with Netflix. But yeah, it’s actually always great when anything that you do works well.
Q : I also feel that in the cinemas, when you are doing Vedaa, the raw action that was there in the film, the kind of emotions… It wasn’t just a plain story; it was very layered. A scene that I particularly liked was when there was a very emotional and hard-hitting moment where there is a car following you, and your character is getting into an accident, and then the entire fold of events that follow. The body language you have in the scene with the sister when she’s talking about it was very impactful. You have mentioned in quite a few interviews that there have been some emotional moments that affected your mood and your daily life. How do you cope with that?
A: Honestly, in Vedaa, there were actually a fair share of scenes that really did get to me because it’s a very hard-hitting story. Unfortunately, it stands true sometimes even in today’s time. So, anyone who’s actually a part of that scene was really feeling uneasy because it’s not an easy scene to do. But as an actor, I really wanted to put myself there and give it my 100% because sometimes cinema also has ways of changing some thoughts or making some conversation. Hence, I think it was my responsibility to do it with utmost sincerity and sensitivity. So, I put myself in that situation.
But once the scene is done, I used to just hang out with the whole crew. We were actually shooting in Jodhpur, and after the shoot was done, we would all meet in the restaurant, sit, eat dinner, and just get back to normal life. Just be around people you enjoy being with, have conversations, and I think then it was okay. You would get okay.
Q : And that also brings me to the point that there have been a variety of roles that you have been doing. It’s not just one kind of role. If you go right from your journey as an AD, it has been on comic films. Many of your characters recently have also had this comic overtone. Do you think that your experience as an AD has helped you with the kinds of roles that you have been doing?
A : Yeah, for sure. I think that if I hadn’t been a part of these films as an assistant director or actor, I wouldn’t have been here today. I think that irrespective of the genre of these films, because I don’t come from a film family, I did not know how films are made. I didn’t know what camera angles are, I didn’t know any technicality, and I didn’t even know that it takes 100-200 people to make a film, you know? So, when I went on set, I just got to learn so many things that, as an actor, I didn’t get intimidated by a camera, by ten people standing behind the camera, or five or six people coming in the middle to fix something or lighting and things like that.
So, for me, the journey of an assistant director was most important because I became comfortable being in this environment, comfortable being on set. But of course, saying that Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety are really funny films, I enjoy comedy a lot. I really love comedy films, and I’ve grown up watching a lot of them. So yes, subconsciously somewhere, comic timing and how you redo takes—I think those small things, even if I didn’t think about them, I learned on set. I guess I kind of applied it during Maharaj, Munjya, or even Bunty Aur Babli 2, because I’ve done a fair share of comedy, now that you say it.
Q : I would say there have been quite a few things that are like a circle of life. As an AD, you’ve mentioned that you had opened the door when Deepika walks in, and you’ve had this whole fan culture of Bollywood right from childhood. So, the circle of life that you’re now in the Spy Universe, which has Deepika or SRK as a part of it, how does that feel for you?
I mean, it’s quite a surreal, like a pinch-me moment still. Right now though, I’m just keeping my head down, working hard, and shooting every single day. But yeah, when I talk about these things, it just makes me feel really surreal because, of course, I was an assistant director on Bajirao Mastani. In one of the song sequences, I was actually opening the door for Deepika for the Deewani Mastani song.
So yeah, it just feels wonderful to be a part of the Spy Universe, which is headed by so many superstars. And I’m the youngest actor who gets to be a part of something like this. It’s a big responsibility, but I’m excited.
Q : Well, the audience is also equally excited! Right from the title announcement, everyone has been very intrigued by how well the dialogues are or what the motto of the mission is. It feels like it’s not just a film, but when we look at the films made even in Hollywood, there hasn’t been a very impactful film where female leads are playing spies. This is like a new concept, very unique in itself. How do you feel this would be like a legacy for the films ahead?
A : Honestly, I personally think that Alia has always done this. She’s been kind of a steward when it comes to female-centric films, and she’s always made them work. I’m lucky to be a part of it with her. I think that she really does have the power and the charm to make it happen and make these films successful. I get to learn from her, and I get to be in a film with her. So, I think I’m just going to put my energies into this and really hope that we have a film that hopefully changes the course and makes more female-centric action films, because it’s the first of its kind. Really hoping there are lots more, because I feel like when young girls or boys sit in the theaters and watch women do action, I hope that they feel really cool about it.
Q: that also reminds me how you had a bit of muscle pain or the muscle stretching when you were doing the action for Vedaa so uh given the high-octane action on this one um how have you been preparing for the role like with the shoot in different cities and the kind of action that goes into making this?”
A: “um yeah I honestly I think that it’s it’s a part of our job when we actually do action films uh and any sort of like these physically driven films demand certain am uh so nothing I’ve just been consistent I think the key is being consistent the key is going to gym um I actually have just celebrated Ganpati at my native place and absolutely not gone to the gym so I’m really looking forward to now being more consistent and just like showing up at the gym and uh you know just putting in the effort that I was like 10 days back uh but but yeah I think just being consistent is key.”
Q : “And working with YRF films is again a huge thing and uh right from Bunty Aur Babli 2 and um like the vision that Aditya Chopra has for the YRF Spy Universe itself and the director who has been praised for The Railway Men so how do you feel working with these people like what is the experience like?”
“it’s um it’s quite outstanding because you know and and it’s very humbling because um Adi Chopra is one of the biggest producers um in Bollywood uh Spy Universe is one of the biggest IPs of Bollywood and uh for him to believe in me for him to feel that I’m I would be able to um you know do this project and and and be able to stand my own ground uh is a huge validation for an actor like me uh especially because I’m just three-four films old uh so I I it’s it’s very motivating for me actually to to kind of get that uh get that validation and to get that support from Adi sir.
And Shiv is is a fantastic director and and uh a very good friend now since we’ve been working together but uh honestly he’s uh he’s quite the visionary and um you know like you said The Railway Men has been such an incredible show um it’s super exciting to work with new minds it’s exciting to you know collaborate with new people uh who have have like different visions and kind of want to do something different in this in in the world of cinema.”
Q : And like you said that um you have just been three or four films old but when you go through the comments there is so much love and there are so many people who mention that it seems that we have been seeing you for a long time and we have seen the growth of the characters that you’re performing so how does that uh reception of love feel like whenever you are opening after you have shot for something for a long time and when you are opening your social media or you are reading through the comments full of love and praise how do you feel uh looking at the reels that people are making the dances and yeah all of those things?”
“It’s actually the sweetest thing it’s the it’s the most sweetest thing ever because um because I feel like this year has truly been the first time that I’m experiencing something like this um I have not experienced this before I’ve just been very lucky that my work just came out back to back this year and and uh fortunately people received everything very well for me uh for them to you know I’ve had two songs that came three songs that came out this year and for them to make reels on all songs and like all songs to trend um and and just you know it’s just a lot of love for me and I really really hope that I’m able to kind of you know um work really hard and never disappoint my audience because I think that I kind of owe them and I’m responsible for giving them some good performances so hopefully I’m able to do that in return of their love.”
Q: “And you have the special wall in your house which is like with the collages of all the Bollywood movies and which has the um pop culture references and now when we look at it like the स के श thing or if we go and look at the “Haan ke Haan” so how does it feel to get included in that pop culture now that everyone is performing like you and they trying to…”
“Am I part of pop culture? I think that would be a very cool moment I don’t know if I I I don’t know if I’m a part of pop culture yet but if I am then that’s very cool!”
Q : “And that also brings me like the dialects that you have learned like the Rajasthani one for Vedaa or the Gujarati one for Maharaj um there might be moments that you might be having the issues of mixing them up or you might have like the collaboration of characters that you are working on so many films together so how have you worked on it that you have being so perfect in all of them?”
“Thank you so much um so actually Gujarati started with you know my friends from school actually two of them are Gujarati and um I’ve I’ve grown up in their households so I’ve heard their families speak Gujarati so that’s a language that I’ve always heard they speak to each other in Gujarati their moms used to speak to me also in Gujarati uh so I the language and I knew the sound of that language so it was very it was not that difficult for me to pick that language up uh what was difficult was actually speaking it wrongly like you know I didn’t know the language fully but then I had to break it and then speak wrongly and still you know get that right that was my difficult part so I really like tried to learn as much Gujarati as I could uh but when I actually shifted to Vedaa I remember that that time I was getting very confused like I used to speak half Gujarati half Rajasthani half Marathi like I had mixed all my languages and at one point I thought that I’m never going to be able to speak Rajasthani because I was just not sounding anything like a Rajasthani girl um so that that became like a “khichdi” in my head but uh I think eventually my dialect coach his name is Mahadev and he really really helped me with this and uh due credit to him that I actually could speak Rajasthani in the film.”
Q : the fact that um like the auditions that you did there were too many of auditions, you also mentioned that you used to uh go on birthdays to SRK’s house outside Mannat and um the entire fan fiction and the fan culture that you have followed in Bollywood um and the hard work that you have done to be at the stage that you are right now um like you know with potential collaborations between the movies of Spy Universe or something that’s um like you have reached to that level where um um you have mixed all of those things up so um so how does it feel that um you know when you are looking at the dance numbers which are like um very few of the actors have this high number of views not just on like you have the viewership records you have the YouTube records you have the records of box office collection so like how has this entire journey like have you been able to um you know do you feel that the manifestation has worked or do you get the kind of uh responses even from your family members that you have actually been thankful for the journey?”
“Uh actually even now it feels like it feels almost like a pinch me moment um especially when I see uh when I saw a lot of people dance on Taras in the theaters right when they were playing uh that I thought I was it was unbelievable that somebody was dancing on my songs like I was like oh my god wow this is happening uh I think it still feels like that it still feels uh uh very new very uh you know almost feels like a dream um but I’m but yeah sure I I definitely think that is a big part of manifesting because I’ve always always wanted wanted to be uh I’ve wanted to be one of the best actors in the country I’ve I still strive to do the same I still work hard to do the same I wouldn’t say I’ve reached there but I want to reach there and uh that’s always been my aim uh so I I think that it’s just it feels like a good one step forward.”
Q: “And with the global audiences that are watching your films and um like even in London you have seen the houseful cinemas for the films that you have done so um like how has the glob global reception also uh like what would you say to the global audiences regarding your future roles and regarding the love that you have been getting from them?”
“I would just want to say that I’m so thankful and so grateful to everybody you know all around the world who has been showering me with so much love uh because I think for us Instagram is kind of the only way we get to read or like uh you know get to know that people are out of India are also watching our work because they can drop in a comment or get like you know we are like a DM uh so whenever I see something like that it makes me realize the power of cinema and to how to what extent it can go and how the boundaries that it can cross uh so I think that it’s incredible that uh you know everybody even outside of India have been watching everything and uh just been so kind and I’m just very very grateful for the love.”
“And with all the um, you know, the work that you have done and getting the youngest actor to have the release on a holiday and the youngest actor to do the rest of the things that we have mentioned through the interview, so, uh, and you have to even go for the marketing of the events and like to the events for marketing of the films and you have to do the interviews. So how do you think, uh, do you feel that, uh, that’s your motivation or do you feel that you get exhausted at the end of it?”
“No, I think it’s, uh, I, I honestly, I get very excited. I’m also very, very new actor so all of these things are really a dream come true. I’ve seen people from promote their films go to colleges and, you know, have that whole thing and I’ve always wanted that for myself. I’ve always looked at like other people’s promotions and felt oh when will I, you know, be able to promote my film and all. So, uh, I’m always looking forward to this. I’m always looking forward to meeting people and meeting, uh, uh, and promoting my film mainly because after making that film and working so hard on it, it’s really important that it reaches to the audiences. Uh, so no, I, I actually find it really exciting.”
“So well thank you for this conversation, has been very amazing and uh, more than that the milestones that you have already achieved and you are set to achieve with Alpha, I’m so sure that the audience is going to love it and the benchmarks that you are going to create, so all the best on the journey and congratulations for the best year that you have had.
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