Sports TV

“Ek Mahanayak – Dr. B.R Ambedkar” actress Neha Joshi says protagonists, especially in TV shows are quite idealistic, so she enjoys playing character roles more.

“I am interested in character roles. I have always felt that particularly in television that the protagonists, because they want people to follow them… are more idealistic, more on the positive side,” Neha said.

“Character roles on the other hand have grey shades too. They are a bit different. They make mistakes also. They are closer to the reality, so I like doing character roles,” she added.

Neha is a popular Marathi actress, who has also featured in Hindi films such as “Hawaa Hawaai”.

Asked if she would like to do more Hindi films, the “Poshter Boyz” actress said: “Yeah. I love acting. Give me any medium, I just want to work. Hindi films… right from ‘Dangal’ to Abhay Deol’s small films that have social messages, I really like them. I am also a big fan of Vishal Bhardwaj’s film ‘Maqbool’ and ‘Haider’.”

Did she ever give an audition and didn’t get the part?

“There were one or two. One was for ‘Sacred Games 2’. I don’t know who finally got it. They give different names during auditions. I was keen on doing that. Maybe I was looking too young for that role,” she said.

“I wanted to work with Anurag Kashyap sir (‘Sacred Games 2’). I have been following his work since his first film. Some of my friends have worked with him. He works with the actors and they can improvise scenes. He just lets you be that part. I like that process,” she added.

If not a Hindi web series, she did bag her first Hindi TV show — “Ek Mahanayak – Dr. B.R Ambedkar” last year.

On playing Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s mother Bhimabai in the &TV show, Neha said: “I felt honoured that I got to play Ambedkar’s mother. It was a big responsibility. Parents play an important role in developing character of a person. Ambedkar’s mother also played an important role in his life. So, it was a challenge.”

As an actor too, see saw essaying the role as a challenge.

“It goes back in time. The language was different from the colloquial language that we use today. Also, now we have washing machines, mixer, grinder and other things to help us in doing household chores. These were not there back then.

“I had to make it look like I do such work everyday without using machines. Also, I am not a mother in real life. I was initially worried about playing the part. I didn’t know how to get that ‘motherly feeling’ but as an actor, I know how to extract things from my own life. I have a niece and two cats. I have seen my mother and grandmother,” she said.