Long way to go in recognizing an actors skills than her face or body: Mirzapur actress Prashansa Sharma

Prashansa Sharma’s character Radhiya might not be the main lead in season 2 of ‘Mirzapur’ but just like her name, she is definitely getting applauds for whatever little screen presence she has got in this Amazon Prime Video series. 

When asked about the idea behind saying yes to a role that is not mainstream, Prashansa, who is in her late 20s, told Opoyi, “I see characters and stories- not if a role is mainstream or not. I was fresh out of film school trying to somehow crack the audition process when Casting Bay asked me to do an audition for this character.”

“To be in another person’s skin- to embody her thoughts, her secrets, how she feels about the world; to dive deep within the depths of her life and what drives her and create a whole life in a character is the most exciting part of my work and that’s why I said yes to Mirzapur,” she added.

Talking about her character Radhiya, Prashansha said that “she was so unlike me”

“…so invisible, so powerless, and yet something about her made me feel I could embody her pain, her thoughts, her skin. I felt that through her I could show the pain of women who are abused and bring light to that. When I met the writer, Puneet Krishnan to discuss my role he was so passionate and compassionate to her, it made my life easy,” said the actress.

The action-crime thriller is getting positive response for its gripping story and impeccable performance by actors like Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Divyendu Sharma and Rajesh Tailang.

However, what is noteworthy to see that it’s not just the male leads of this gang war series who are getting all love and appreciation from viewers but the female gang of this tale including Shweta Tripathi, Rasika Dugal, Isha Talwar, and Harshita Gaur are equally doing rounds for their power pact performances.

Being one of them, Prashansha thinks that “it’s more than high time that women are at the forefront of stories written today, not as a comparison to men but as independent interesting characters who deserve to be equally represented in film and henceforth in society.”

She says that “times are changing and women are getting prominence in both digital medium as well as films.”

“This change is of course more visible in digital mediums. This has to have a huge impact in the way women are perceived. When we tell stories with well-rounded female characters, it makes society also look at women as human beings instead of mere tools serving a man’s purpose,” said the young face who after working in the European Independent Film scene with directors like Bruno Coppola, moved back to Mumbai as she always wanted to be part of the “major shift in storytelling Indian cinema is going through.”

Now, she is looking forward to her next web-series Fallen by ‘Reema Kagti’ for Amazon Prime & her Diwali release – ‘Bicchoo Ka Khel’ starring Divyendu Sharma & Anshul Chauhan.

Talking about her next five-year plan, she said: “I see myself portraying exciting female characters that challenge me as an actor. I want to also write those characters and stories and be part of this rapidly evolving time of story-telling and hopefully have a few shows and films of my own out there.”

The actress is currently working with Nitya Mehra on the writing of a show for Amazon. She has also co-founded a production house- ‘Daku Productions’ in Mumbai.

An actress, who would love to play a character like Villanelle from ‘Killing Eve’, she is also partly satisfied with the way the entertainment industry is moving from this whole debate of insider and outsider.

“Yes, we are progressing in terms of nepotism and the insider and outsider debate but I think we have a long way to go in terms of recognizing an actor’s capabilities and skills than her face or body and conventional standards of beauty or aesthetics,” she signed off.