Dabba Cartel's Shalini Pandey recalls disturbing old encounter with a director: 'He just opened the door and entered...'

Shalini Pandey has been grabbing eyeballs since her performance in Maharaj. The actress was recently seen in Netflix's crime drama, Dabba Cartel. The drama follows five ordinary women in Thane, who unknowingly become entangled in a high-stakes drug operation after their tiffin service is used to transport illicit goods. Shalini was praised for her role. Now, in a new interview, the actress shared a shocking incident when a director entered her van without knocking while she was changing. 

Shalini Pandey on earlier shocking incident

During a recent interview with Filmygyan, Shalini Pandey recalled a director’s lack of manners that made her uncomfortable. She said, "Very early in my career, I was doing a South film. The director walks into my van. He doesn’t knock, and I was changing. He just opened the door and entered." 

Recalling her immediate reaction, Shalini shared, "I just yelled. I absolutely lost my shit. I was 22." Even though some people later told her she shouldn't have shouted, she still felt it was important to stand her ground.

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The actress also added that she drew boundaries early in her career to protect herself and mentioned that while she had worked with some wonderful men in the industry, she had also encountered "horrid men."

Reflecting on her journey as an outsider, Shalini admitted that she doesn't come from a film family and had no guidance when she first started. "I didn't have anyone to go back to, so I had to figure it out on my own," she said.

"Initially, I didn’t have an idea, but I’m glad I was like that. I was naive, but I had hard boundaries. Like, I would snap," she recalled.

Shalini Pandey in Dabba Cartel

In the Netflix series Dabba Cartel, Shalini Pandey played Raji, a housewife who, along with her housemaid Mala and others, gets entangled in a dangerous drug business disguised as a tiffin service. Shalini is part of an ensemble cast that includes Shabana Azmi, Jyotika, Nimisha Sajayan, and Anjali Anand, who play other women involved in the drug cartel.

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