SAKSHI TANWAR TALKS ABOUT THE EVOLUTION OF THE ON-SCREEN MOTHER NARRATIVE

Making her Netflix series debut with ‘Mai’, Sakshi Tanwar opens up about her character and more.

Netflix is back with a high voltage crime-thriller series, ‘Mai’. Co-directed by Atul Mongia and Anshai Lal, the series stars actor ‘Sakshi Tanwar’ as the protagonist ‘Sheel’.

Essaying the role of a demure, middle aged mother, Sakshi Tanwar plays the role of a docile woman who gets swept into the power play of politics, after she witnesses the brutal murder of her daughter.

For decades, the entertainment industry has been inspired by mothers, and created a myriad of characters that are the picture of sacrifice and virtue.

With time, there has been an evolution in the representation of on-screen female characters, thanks to the actors, writers and creators who have been catalysts of change.

With respect to this, actor Sakshi Tanwar throws light on her character ‘Sheel’ in ‘Mai’ and the modern mother character that we see on-screen.

She shares, “We have mostly seen on screen mothers as ‘loving and kind’ or ‘strict and overbearing’.

The viewers are now seeing the various facets and dimensions of the motherhood experience especially after the advent of OTT.

It’s a great time to be an actor and to be playing such layered characters because now we truly get to explore every facet of a mother‘s character that, for so long, was hidden.”

Elaborating on how she ended up doing ‘Mai’, Sakshi Tanwar added, “I auditioned for this show by way of a mock shoot, for some of the most difficult scenes from the series, back in December 2019.

It was an impromptu expression of what I felt on the spot. Post that, Atul (Mongia) Sir and I did a few intense workshops to understand how much we were in sync and what our collaboration can lead to.

Luckily, they thought I was a good fit for the character ‘Sheel’ and that’s how I landed my first Netflix Original series.”

Watch Sakshi Tanwar break her own benchmark in Netflix’s ‘Mai’ only on 15th April