We recently had an exclusive opportunity to have a conversation with Shalini Pandey, known for her role as Preethi in Arjun Reddy and showed her exceptional acting skills in the movie Maharaj starring alongside Junaid Khan and Jaideep Ahlawat, streaming on Netflix.
Shalini Pandey, originally from Jabalpur, moved to Mumbai to fulfil her dream of becoming an actress. Since she does not come from a family related to the film industry, and so after the success of Arjun Reddy, she did not know what to do and how to handle everything, there was no one to guide her.
While speaking about not being from the film industry, she also mentioned how she did not have the luxury to choose between scripts. She accepted the offer for playing the main lead Preethi in Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Arjun Reddy, just because she wanted a breakthrough to act in films. She did not even hear the narration from Vanga, both trusted each other and the rest is history. While talking about handling rejections, she said, “I will think about it for 15 minutes, in that time period, I will sulk and cry and then move on immediately.”
When asked about her take on ‘Alpha Males’, Shalini says “Alpha male is someone who doesn’t control you, my definition of Alpha Male is someone who is secure in their own self, I have both type of men around me. And being secure in your own masculinity and feminine side is attractive.” While growing up in a defence colony, she did not have a typical childhood, she played tough games with both guys and girls, and even has scars on her body, but her parents never stopped her. Her close male friends have taught her a lot about how guys should treat girls and how to earn respect.
She was once told, “You should feel really lucky for doing something that you want to do and you are getting paid for that,” and she keeps that in mind now when she is having career difficulties. Shalini started dating at 15 despite her parents’ disapproval. Last year, she felt exhausted after never being single and hence she took a short break but quickly entered another relationship out of habit. Currently, she is happy with her two dogs and a small circle of friends, enjoying life at home and solo traveling.
During the interview, she was asked if she has indirectly manifested something, she said, in the beginning she was only doing Telugu films and it was very hard to speak Telugu, so she would go to her van and cry, because she wanted to do something in Hindi. She got down on her knees and cried to God and said, “Can you please give me a Hindi film so I can speak Hindi, and that’s how Jayeshbhai Jordaar happened, I unknowingly manifested it”.
While talking about her dream role, she says, “Since it is the beginning of my career, I am happy to do anything and everything that excites me. I works out because I like being fit, so I would like to do an action role.”
Shalini Pandey recently garnered a lot of attention and appreciation for her role in Netflix’s Maharaj. Audiences are eagerly waiting to witness her talent in other projects.
