"One thing I should have done more seriously, was do good PR..." Manjari Fadnnis talked to Brut about playing Meghna in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and why she felt "suffocated" as an actor for a long time.
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00:00I think Meghna's reception was very um um
00:05it was either they loved her or they hated her.
00:11That was like typecast into just one sort of uh or just a pretty girl next door.
00:17There are a lot of things I could have done differently,
00:19which I didn't, which I realized today.
00:22Hi, this is Manjari Fadniz and you're watching me on Root.
00:39I started with singing and dancing and then went on to acting when I was 14.
00:44And then when I was 16, I knew this is what I wanted to do.
00:47But I did not know how to do it.
00:50And when I'd seen Shani V Popstars, the first season when it came,
00:56I saw that as an opportunity to try entering the industry in some way.
01:03Jay, what's this?
01:17I remember I'd gone to Bangkok for another shoot of a Telugu film at that point of time
01:22for a week. And by the time, I mean, like I had no idea.
01:25I'd switched off because I was too nervous.
01:27I did not know what's going to happen, like how people are going to respond or whatever.
01:31So I'd shut off my phone entirely.
01:33And I went off to Bangkok to shoot and I didn't talk to anybody for a week.
01:38And when I came back, I was at the airport.
01:43And the moment I entered, the reaction of people, everything had changed.
01:49Like suddenly I was seeing eyes on me.
01:52And they were like, isn't that, isn't that, isn't that?
01:55I think Meghna's reception was very...
02:00It was either they loved her or they hated her.
02:03It was a mixed reaction to Meghna in the beginning.
02:06But interestingly, 12 years later, I'm talking about 2020,
02:13just around lockdown and post lockdown 2021-22.
02:18I don't know.
02:19Suddenly I was getting, you know, open letters to Meghna,
02:25where people are writing some really emotional letters to her.
02:28And like, you know, we understand you today and things like that.
02:31So I think Meghna was a character, I mean, who over time,
02:34people have kind of understood her emotional journey better over years.
02:40I waited a lot.
02:41I mean, after Jaane Toh Ye Jaane Na, I really wanted to play,
02:44I wanted to play Leeds.
02:45I did not want to get typecast again into, you know, supporting, supporting cast.
02:50So I waited for a while, you know, to get back into Leeds.
02:54And I think that wait was a bit longer because it's not like I was getting
03:00left, right, center all the time.
03:02I was just waiting for the right moment.
03:04And I was like, okay, I'm going to play Leeds.
03:06It's not like I was getting left, right, center offers,
03:09the kind of offers that were coming my way after Jaane Toh Ye Jaane Na.
03:14Because the film did so well and I was the second lead in that,
03:16I was getting the smaller roles in the bigger films.
03:20And nothing was at par with Meghna also.
03:24That was like typecast into just one sort of,
03:28or just a pretty girl next door,
03:30or like there were no layers to the characters and the performances.
03:34So I was feeling very suffocated as an actor for a very, very long time.
03:53One thing I would have definitely wanted to do and what should have done
03:57more seriously was do good PR,
04:02which I did not invest in at that point of time.
04:04But of course, like, you know, it is also very expensive.
04:07And at that point of time, I wasn't, I mean,
04:10I was not earning so much that I could have spent every month
04:14on a good PR and all because that is very expensive.
04:17I did not have that kind of machinery that could have helped me propel.
04:27Once in five years, I always have this whole point in life,
04:30but I'm like thinking, am I in the right place?
04:33Should I continue or should I just pack up my bags and go back home?
04:39I think recently in 2019 is when I came to a point where I was feeling very lost
04:46because two years I waited for something good to come my way.
04:53I told you about that those two years I took a break
04:56when I did theatre and I was waiting for something good to come my way.
05:00So while I was waiting for that to happen in my life,
05:04you know, theatre does not pay so much.
05:06And I was living on my savings for two years.
05:09And of course, it was exhausting.
05:13I think I'm getting better work today.
05:32And especially after the whole OTT space coming in,
05:34I think I'm liking the kind of work that's coming my way now.
05:38So I am on a new journey, a more fulfilling journey right now.
05:43So I just hope I reach where I believe I deserve to have reached.