A New Innings
She was Madhavi in the TV series Rihhaee (2004); Sakina in Shyam Benegal’s Sardari Begum (1996) and has acted in plays with the Indian People’s Theatre Association early in her career. Currently, actor Rajeshwari Sachdev is revelling in the success of her digital avatar, as the second season of her show, Dil Hi Toh Hai, streams on Alt Balaji. The actor admits that she is new to the web world and still has to wrap her head around it. “Social media and streaming platforms, mujhe thoda kam samajh aata hai hai. But my lack of knowledge notwithstanding, I realise its importance since it brings with it a whole different demography as an audience,” says Sachdev, who plays Mamta Noon in Dil Ho Toh Hai. “And the web platform gives you complete independence from the compulsions of TV, from producers, TRP and advertisements.”
Sachdev is excited that even after three decades, she is offered roles that are relevant. “As actors, we are not doing anything much to keep ourselves relevant. I am thankful, that people remember and think of me when they have a meaty role,” she says.
In the second season of the show, her role as the matriarch of the family expands. She says, “With the love story arc of Ritwik-Palak, everyone’s life in the family changed. But my character, which till the first season, was so sure of her actions and decisions, is now taking stock, and rethinking her life’s choices. She accepts her mistakes and moves on. It all unravels from that point where she says: ‘What all that has been lost, needs to be taken back’.”
Sachdev, who has played strong women’s roles in her career, is optimistic that this is just the beginning. “As the roles of women in real life have changed and evolved, they have transformed on screen as well. There is a direct correlation. And we have always had a penchant for stories that have strong women characters. Bimal Roy made Sujata, didn’t he, even in the late fifties?” she says.