I want to take up stories where I can present myself differently : Shriya Pilgaonkar

New Delhi : Actress Shriya Pilgaonkar considers herself lucky to be part of legal drama ‘Guilty Minds’. Being an actor she feels her role was very challenging and multilayered that makes it more intriguing. It is a 10-episode series which depicts Shriya as lawyer Kashaf Quaze and Varun Mitra as Deepak Rana who portrays a corporate lawyer. During a conversation with IANS, she shares: “Our casting director Gautam Kishanchandani’s team approached me and the first time in fact, when they had asked me to audition for it, the date bracket they gave me didn’t work out. So I said, it’s not possible for me. But destiny has decided something else. They came back to me and the dates changed. And I said, ‘Yes, of course’, I’d like to audition for it.” “I thought that the range of emotions that I could perform in the audition was really diverse. And I was very drawn to the name of my character Kashaf Qazi. And I was sure that I would want to do this even before reading the script because I really enjoyed the audition scene,” she adds. The actress shares that most important for her was that she was getting to play a lawyer and it was like a dream role for her. “I loved all the different legal cases. I loved that I was getting to play a lawyer. I loved how complex my part was.

This was perhaps one of the first times I was getting to carry something on my shoulders. And I really liked that I was being trusted with it.” Every character comes with certain challenges and Shreya agrees that Kashaf is a very complex and challenging personality to depict onscreen. “It is a completely different character for me. Of course the fact that she’s a lawyer is just one aspect of it. But Kashaf is a complex person. She’s a private person and never trusts anyone easily. But she’s very loyal. She’s very loving. She’s very protective of her family. But her personality in court is different. She’s feisty, she’s ambitious. So, to sort of strike that balance to go to show these different sides, I think that was fun for me to explore. And the lawyer aspect of it, of course, there were a lot of lines to learn. But the challenge, I would say, is to make it look realistic.” The actress continues: “Though I would say I relate to my character as like her I am very protective towards the people I love.” Shriya further shares some behind the camera moments and also talks about her chemistry with co-actor Varun.

“I had a very good time shooting our court scenes. Actors really have to work to build chemistry with us, there was just a lot of ease and I felt like we immediately felt each other as those characters without much effort or trying to imagine we were just Kashaf and Deepak for each other.” While coming from a family where both of her parents, Sachin and Supriya Pilgaonkar were established names, how she looks at her journey so far in the entertainment industry. Shriya answers: “With every project I feel like I’m starting off. I am more ambitious now and I enjoy that learning process. After every project I start looking forward to it. I have a couple of releases that are all very different in terms of genres, there’s comedy, then there is something more like light hearted and something in the world of news reporting. So, I think I just want to take up distinct paths and different stories where I can present myself differently. And I’m also seeking to do more film work. I feel like that’s something I haven’t got an opportunity to do in a long time.” The 10-episode series has been created and directed by Shefali Bhushan and co-directed by Jayant Digambar Samalkar. It is produced by Karan Grover and co-produced by Antara Banerjee and Naved Farooqui. ‘Guilty Minds’ streams on Prime Video.