Shreya Dhanwanthary wants to do ‘fun, ridiculous’ roles: ‘People think I am quite serious’

Shreya Dhanwanthary is in search for light. The actor, who shot to fame as an intelligence officer on Raj and DK’s The Family Man and garnered further acclaim with her turn as a journal on Scam 1992, says she is keen to explore projects which don’t place her in hard-hitting settings.
Shreya Dhanwanthary says, thanks to her OTT work, including Mumbai Diaries 26/11, people have a perception that she is “serious” and hence makers try to cast her only in no-nonsense characters, which can be limiting. “Everybody looks at me and thinks, ‘Oh she’s quite serious so we will give her serious, heavy thing’ and as much as I also gravitate towards heavy, hard hitting serious stuff, I want to explore something lighter, something more fun,” she tells indinaexpress.com.

 
Shreya says her desire to feature in a fun project also mirrors the storytelling scene in the country, which is dominated mostly heavy-duty stuff. The actor hopes that it changes. “There’s so much darkness in all of our storytelling right now, I feel we could all use a little bit of light. Or maybe that’s something I am constantly craving and projecting on to the country,” she adds.
The actor says a sure-shot way to break free from the trappings of her image is being constantly on the lookout f0r wide ranging work. “I’m greedy for genres and I want to feature in diverse range of genres so that there’s lot more for people to choose from rather than just, ‘Oh it’s dark and hard hitting so we go to her.’
“If it’s light, fun and ridiculous then also they should come to me. When people associate you with a certain genre, it means you’ve done your part convincingly enough for them to want you in a certain space,” she says.

 
For now, the actor is awaiting the release of her short film Birth, set to premiere on DisneyPlus Hotstar on August 27. Produced Boundless Media and directed Shyam Sundar, the film also stars Lillete Dubey.
According to the makers, Birth follows the story of an eight months pregnant woman, who enrolls into a maternity centre for ‘Happy Moms’. “She begins to get conditioned its warped practices – until she is jolted awake its attempts to entirely reshape her identity,” the official synopsis reads.
“What worked for me was the story. It was the idea that we haven’t really explored the very real issues that women face, the constant judgement, constant policing, what they should wear, what they shouldn’t. I thought it would be interesting to explore the horrors that are literally and figuratively associated with this entire scenario.
“Also, we haven’t explored motherhood through that lens. To take something that has always been celebrated with pure love, light and joy and turn it dark. That tw was interesting,” Shreya adds.

The actor, who also has two feature films lined up, Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer Adbhut and R Balki’s Chup, says her aim is to now reach a wider audience base which will start recognising her for her body of work.
“In the larger scheme of things, I’ve a long way to go and a lot of had work to do. I want to be identifiable to a larger section. Hopefully I will get enough opportunities to accomplish that and they help audience realise that they’re in for a ride when they watch my work. It’s a lofty dream but hope I’ll be able to achieve it,” she adds.