No holds barred! That's Bollywood spitfire girl Sandhya Mridul for you. Outspoken and gutsy, this actress doesn't believe in treading the beaten path. With singular roles in films like Saathiya, Waisa Bhi Hota Hain - Part 2, Page 3, Kuchh Meetha Ho Jaaye and the forthcoming Deadline in her kitty, she's a gal to be reckoned with. ShaadiTimes gets up, close and personal with this in-your-face, take-it-or-leave-it femme fatale!
Considering that you have outlined your interests in terms of doing offbeat films, is this limitation fallout of a set of beliefs?
I have not limited myself in any manner. It's just that when I came in I was very new and knew nothing about the industry, so I just decided to start with something I was comfortable with. Now I am toying with the idea of whether I should make inroads into commercial cinema. So it is not a preset limitation in that sense.
In fact there is a very thin line between crossover films and commercial cinema. You can't call Page 3 or Saathiya as crossover but they definitely were above the general commercial cinema that is churned out. To me
Iqbal is a crossover film.
So what do you look for in the films you accept?
Script is important. More often than not it determines what bracket the film falls into. The distinction between crossover and commercial is very narrow and for me the decision lies in how appealing the role is. Is it challenging for me to portray? Am I doing something new? And also to an extent am I comfortable doing what I am doing?
Like Saathiya, Waisa Bhi Hota Hain and Page 3. All three were very distinctly different women I portrayed and that's the challenge I look for.
You started as a TV actress and quit after spending five years there. Now you are doing films and you are fantastic in them. Tell me what does Sandhya want from her creative pursuits?
The creative satisfaction I am looking at is all kinds of roles.
I do not want to be repetitive - and this is not to prove a point but for the simple fact that I get bored with repetition. Life is about fun and satisfaction. And in satisfaction there has to be my own growth. For me creativity is to be challenged to do something I've never done before. And I definitely do NOT believe in images. The media so painstakingly builds images and there are people who spend a lot of time making them as well but
each time the media makes one for me I will break it.
Are you ambitious? Where does a film career figure in your list of priorities?
Not ambitious nor laidback. Neither overtly ambitious nor desperate. Well, I have my impatient times and I have a goal but I am in no hurry to get there.
Ambition interferes with creativity. And for me creativity is an experience, a journey and in essence it is the goal. So in that sense I am not very ambitious but I am clear as to where I want to go.
And family?
Very, very, very, very important and friends are included in the word. I spend a lot of time with my family and make it a point to spend a lot of time with them. My family is in Delhi, as you would know, and I do take time out to regularly visit them or keep in touch. That's very important to me, to be close to your close people and one of the reasons I quit TV was because I was missing all the important occasions of all my loved ones. I was working all the time and there was no time for me to spend with my loved ones or be a part of things and occasions special to them. The switch over to films has made that easier for me.
