Actress Nehha Pendse was recently seen in the second season of the sitcom May I Come In Madam? on Star Bharat. It also starred Sandeep Anand, Sapna Sikarwar and Anup Upadhyay in pivotal roles. The show recently went off air due to some reasons. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Nehha spoke about the show going off air, her stint in the highly acclaimed Marathi film June as an actress and producer and her career, which includes her work as a child artiste in shows like Hasratein.
We recently went off air. And the response was good in all honesty. I don’t know exactly what went wrong because the channel was also happy with the second season. But I guess they just have certain policies and things and we had to go off air. But it happened in a very friendly and amicable manner. I, obviously, felt bad that we went off air but then, that’s life.
You have done movies as well as television. Which medium are you more comfortable with?
I am comfortable in both the mediums. But obviously, when you are doing television, you have to let go of a lot of nuances. It’s like a mill and you just have to keep on delivering. That’s not the case with films. Films are a short-term commitment. There is a lot more nuance; performances and everything is nuanced. So that all you miss out when you are doing television but that’s the nature of the medium and you have to respect it.
You started off as a child artiste. I remember seeing you in the popular TV serial Hasratein in the 1990s. What do you feel when you think of those days?
It was a different era altogether, if I have to be honest with you. I think that was an era where a lot of importance was given to the nuances of the medium because we were not telecasting daily. We were telecasting weekly. The makers had all the time in the world to give quality content. But ever since the trend changed and we came down to daily consumption, all that went out of the window.
Now the consumer pattern is such that they don’t mind a compromised content which they want to see every day. So ultimately, we deliver what the consumer wants. They don’t want to wait for an entire week to see what happens in their favourite show. I think the nature now is more addictive where every single day at a single point and time they want to sit in front of the television and watch the show. So, that has its own ups and downs. It gives you a great power. I think television actors are now more powerful in terms of their popularity, which was not the case before. But the content has really taken a hit.
Your Marathi film June has been appreciated a lot. It also won you a Filmfare Award and the Best Actress award at the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF)
I have done a lot of commercial work in my life. I have a lot of work in my life as an actor. But I have received very few projects where I can prove the power of my craft. So, commercial projects don’t give you the opportunity to showcase your craft. June gave me the opportunity to showcase my talent as an actor and for people to see me in a different light. And it was my first film that got me a Filmfare (Award). It’s not easy to win a Filmfare. In that sense, that film did put me on the mark.
You also turned producer with June. Producing can be different challenge altogether. How was your experience as a producer?
Producing is a different ball game altogether. I feel an actor’s job is the easiest job in the field of entertainment because you are absolutely at the fag end of responsibility. You are only responsible for your performance. Everything is very centralized. When you are producing, you are a part of the project from day 1 to taking care of 10 departments at one time. It’s a very taxing and difficult responsibility, but I had collaborated with very some really great people, who made my journey extremely simple as a producer.
What is your take on the current situation of the Marathi film industry?
We have had some really successful films in Marathi. Things are looking very good. We had Jhimma 1 and 2. We have few more films that did very well. Things are looking very bright. 2022 was a very dull year for Marathi industry while 2023 was very good for Marathi and Hindi cinema. We had some really good blockbusters. Of course, ups and downs happen in every industry.
