Actor Prachi Desai might now be years and years away from her TV days but it wouldn’t be unfair to say that she’s best remembered for her television debut with Kasamh Se.
Following that, she had a rather encouraging start to her Hindi film career where she debuted with Rock On! and starred in films like Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, Bol Bachchan and Azhar among others.
However, like many who also face a similar situation, not much transpired for her later until the boom of OTT, where she recently was seen in Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout and also in Silence.
Recently, in an interview with Times of India she talked about how things have changed for her, never imagining to play an undercover cop, being slotted in the older woman category and being a victim of lazy casting.
She said that during and after the pandemic, OTT had changed everything for writers, directors, newcomers, and even for actors like Manoj Bajpayee and Vijay Varma, who were known names but whose potential wasn’t fully tapped. She mentioned that she could have never imagined playing an undercover cop in a typical Bollywood film, but web films like Silence 1 and Silence 2 gave her the opportunity to break barriers and do something different. She added that OTT was a breather for actors who had to wait endlessly for films to be financed and eventually released in theatres.
Desai then said that she was only 17 when she started doing Kasamh Se and was shooting six episodes a week. Her world changed overnight when she won Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. At 19, she was suddenly the lead actress in Rock On! opposite Farhan Akhtar. She described it as an incredible opportunity, but after Rock On! nobody remembered that she was a 19-year-old, and she felt she got slotted in the older woman category. She came from a humble background with parents who were teachers, and people didn’t realize that unlike others, she did not grow up attending parties, nor did her father make films. She felt she became a victim of lazy casting and admitted to making errors in choosing the right projects as she did not have a production house or an agency guiding her. She had to make a living and establish herself in Mumbai, so she accepted what was offered to her. As a young girl, she made mistakes because she wasn’t sure what was good and what wasn’t. However, reflecting on her journey, she felt gratitude and gave herself credit.