20 hours Ago
Actor Shalini Pandey received good reviews for her performance in Dabba Cartel recently. Last year, she also had a success with Maharaj. However, her entry into Hindi industry wasn’t as smooth as her debut vehicle, the 2022 release Jayeshbhai Jordaar with actor Ranveer Singh , didn’t do well at the box office.
Reflecting on her debut film’s reception, Shalini Pandey says, “When you do a film like Jayeshbhai Jordaar, it's absolutely amazing on papers—It's Ranveer Singh, Yash Raj Films, an amazing story and such a strong character to play. But yes, my heart broke when it didn’t work. When everything looks so great and you feel like people are going to love you but it does not play out that way, you feel shattered.
But you gather your heart and move on. I'm lucky that I've been thriving with the work that I want to do.” Shalini’s film journey began with a hit, Telugu film Arjun Reddy (2019).
Did her perception change after Jayeshbhai Jordaar’s failure? “It's not that I had built one perspective, and it broke; I'm someone who is also very adaptable. I flow with the world and I change, evolve, grow and fall. I take it as it comes,” she responds.
With Maharaj too, the kind of recognition that her co-stars Sharvari and Junaid Khan got, did she feel she didn’t get as much after that film? “It's not in my hand. I do not remember what I felt because I do move on very quickly with my feelings. I am someone who gets done with my work, takes the love or the feedback and just move on with the next.
I'm striving to do better and have fun at my work. So, I don't remember thinking like that because it is literally not in my control,” she answers. The actor adds that no matter the outcome of her projects, she is proud of where they have led her to: “I am very proud of myself.
I'm my biggest cheerleader but also my biggest critic. Earlier, I did not use to be gentle and kind to myself, but I started being kind to me after Jayeshbhai Jordaar. When it didn't work, I became very harsh with myself.
But it taught me how important it is to be kind to myself and take pride in my journey.”.
