Senior versatile actress Maninee Mishra has yet again managed to win hearts with her enthralling performance in the newly-streaming ALTBalaji series, Coldd Lassi aur Chicken Masala that has Rajeev Khandelwal and Divyanka Tripathi in the lead roles.
Says Maninee, “This is a beautiful story of two people who have a past together and how food and the passion for food is the factor that connects them.”
Maninee who plays the role of the restaurant owner by name Revati Patel shares a great camaraderie with Divyanka’s character in the series.
Says Maninee, “Jaya Misra has written the story for Coldd Lassi aur Chicken Masala. She always does a fabulous work with her stories and she was one of the reasons for me accepting the role. Surely, having worked earlier with ALTBalaji, I wanted to work with them again. LingaBhairavi Films is another factor as I have known Doris and Suhail for a long time now. It is their first project as Producers and I accepted it immediately. Also I have never worked with Rajeev and Divyanka before; so I was eager to work with them. And another noteworthy aspect is the new actors I worked with. Madhu Sneha, Saloni Khanna, Worshipp Khanna and others in the cast were wonderful to be with. The icing on the cake was Pradeep Sarkar and this being his directorial venture.”
Talking on her role, Maninee states, “Revati Patel shares a great working rapport with everyone who works at her restaurant. She has a husband by name George and three children who are never shown in the series. She is very practical and takes things as they come. The way in which the story pans out for every character in the series is etched beautifully. The beauty is that no character is peripheral and all have a core part to play in the narrative. It was great fun overall.”
Maninee who has been part of the industry for 18 years now likes to explore and enjoy the realistic element that comes with the concepts. “For me, web is a space where you can explore with a lot of content which may not be allowed on other mediums because of many constraints. I have done Romil and Jugal, Made in Heaven, Abhay and this is my fourth series. I am very much satisfied and happy with the approach that subjects get on the web platform. I have no qualms in saying that I am biased towards web. It is a very nascent medium in our country. But I feel it is here to stay.”
Maninee follows certain self-imposed constraints on herself and is not comfortable crossing it. “When I am not comfortable in a certain role, I do not accept it. I have put a barrier for myself, but there is enough good work outside where you do not have to strip your clothes. The vibe that you give is what you get back. When you have clarity in thought, that’s what you attract.”
Maninee is a great fan of people who write well. Praising the writing in Coldd Lassi aur Chicken Masala, Maninee avers, “The screenplay and dialogues are written by Jaya Misra. The writing here is lucid and she has done a fabulous job. The story by Doris has a lot of clarity and it was great to connect with her again. The dialogues are free-flowing and so natural. I believe writing is the essence and the soul of every good work. Actors come and give it soul. But the writing needs to be strong and story is King. There is nothing beyond the story.”
Maninee is upbeat with the response got for the series. “I am getting great response. I feel very happy and loved when anyone refers to me with my character name. I will never take offence of the fact that the person did not call me by my real name. For me, it means that the character has done a potent job that people remember it.”
Apart from Coldd Lassi aur Chicken Masala, Maninee is also part of Haiwaan the new Balaji Telefilms show for Zee TV.
The talented actress is also a voice artist, having been into it for years now.
Maninee wish you all the very best for the path ahead!!