Shivaani Singh: It was a breeze working with Gulshan Devaiah for Shiksha Mandal

Shivaani Singh, who shot to fame by playing the leading lady in Ye Mantram Vesave, where she was paired alongside Vijay Deverakonda, recently made her digital debut with MX Player's web show Shiksha Mandal. She was cast in role of Shivaani Dubey, a competitive journalist. Gauhar Khan, Gulshan Devaiah and Pavan Raj Malhotra too essayed important roles in the show. In a recent interaction, the actress shared her experiences of shooting for the web series.

"I was cast in the role of a big journalist who's a revered figure among the media fraternity and she belongs to an affluent family. The character was challenging in more ways than one because I had to represent the competitive spirit of the character and also depict the softer side to her. The softer side to the personality had to do more with her equation with Aditya (Gulshan Devaiah) and his family. It's great to receive positive feedback coming my way for the character and the performance," she said. 

The actress credits her director Syed Ahmad Afzal and says she'll be indebted to him for drafting a character like Shivaani Dubey with finesse and for casting her. "It was a breeze working with co-stars like Gulshan Devaiah and Gauahar Khan. Gulshan made me feel very comfortable on sets and he's one of the kindest people I've met in the industry. Gauahar and I got along well instantly and bonded after our first scene, giggling uncontrollably."

Shiksha Mandal revolves around the education mafia, where several students make use of fake candidates to appear for the medical entrance exam. The narrative uncovers several layers to the scam, throwing light on the corruption within the system and the conspiracy that takes the future of various students for a ride. The show unfolds in the backdrop of Madhya Pradesh, highlighting how there's so much pressure on students to crack the exam in small-towns in comparison to the metropolitan cities in India.