Exclusive! Maharani actor Anushka Kaushik: It’s important to know what kind of story needs to be told today

Anushka Kaushik has recently been seen in many web series essaying versatile roles in each of them. Her role in Maharani and Crash Course as Shilpa Agarwal and Vidhi Gupta respectively has been quite impactful to the shows. 

In a candid chat with OTTplay, the talented actress spoke about how she chooses projects and also how OTT has been a huge help in her acting career so far. Excerpts:

Anushka has been a part of multiple projects in diverse roles. When asked if it was a conscious decision to take up the project irrespective of how small or big the role is, the actress replied, “Yes, it was a conscious decision. I think for every actor and creator it’s important to know what kind of story needs to be told today, the time also matters a lot. Irrespective of the screen time but not the significance. It is very important for me that whatever character I am playing needs to have that impact on the story and it should contribute something to the script as well as there should be something in the script for me so that I can give my best to the story. 

Talking about landing Maharani 2, Anushka shared that she got a call from Mukesh Chabra’s office and was informed that the sequel to Huma Qureshi’s show has a new character this time. The screen time is less but the impact is huge. And when they narrated the story I said I am in because this is one of the stories that need to be told in each and every house.

When asked about her most challenging role in a show or film till now, she replied, “I think every character has a journey. And I am someone who just cannot live on the legacy of the projects I have done earlier. If I talk about Vibha Sahay from Brave Hearts, which was the first Indian anthology on Indian Army and I had to portray the journey of a woman, who was naive to fall in love with someone and then ultimately when her husband dies she bravely joins the force herself. And for me, it was altogether a different process because I have immense respect for the Army but there is no one in my family who has been in the army. So, I think knowing that world was kind of a challenge.

Talking about how OTT has been a huge help in her career in the industry she said, "While I was growing up I only had Bollywood to look up to, But now talking about the range of different platforms and different genres coming up and actually the process has changed the business has changed, the storytelling is different now. So, definitely, it has opened space for everyone.

Anushka spoke her heart when we asked about the filmmakers she wishes to work with in future and shared, "It's a huge list, I would love to work with Anurag Sir (Kashyap), Sanjay Leela Bhansali Sir, Rajamouli Sir, Raj Kumar Hirani Sir and honestly every filmmaker. And if you talk about actors then I would love to collaborate with Tabu Mam, Manoj Vajpayee Sir, and Alia Bhatt."

Talking about her upcoming projects, the Ghar Wapsi actor unveiled that she has a new anthology coming up on Netflix and she is currently working on Tigmanshu Dhulia's Garmi for SonyLIV. "And I'm soon going to begin working on my feature film at the end of this year, " she added and signed off.