Narayani Shastri: I would rather be the queen of my industry than do a silly role in film

Being in the industry since 2000, actor Narayani Shastri is happy dabbling in television shows. The Piya Ka Ghar (2002) actor is not keen to take up movies and OTT for now.

“I was never too much into movies as you don’t know on editing table your role will remain or not. If you are there left with one or two lines you will end up looking like a fool! So, I have been avoiding films. On TV, I always knew what my character is and what I am getting into, which is a very safe zone. I would rather be the queen of my industry than do a silly role in a movie. Though I also like doing ads whereas OTT I am still figuring out because there is hardly any time left for myself and family.”

Shastri feels the wait for good shows at times gets daunting. “Today, actors need to wait to get good roles. I have waited for a year to get a good role as I can’t take up just anything for the sake of working. It’s very tough for a person like me who is a workaholic. This sitting and waiting game is very difficult but you can’t help it.”

After a gap of 15 years, she decided to take up a saas-bahu show which she feels will be a refreshing change.

“For the initial period of my career, I have done a lot of saas-bahu shows and then I drifted from it. I have done shows with very different flavours till date and that’s important for me. It’s very refreshing to be in that fold and play an antagonist in Laal Banarasi. I have loved playing negative roles in Kkusum (2003) and Piya Rangreez (2015) so it’s a good change from the positive roles I have done so far.”

Her current show is based in Varanasi. “Our initial shoot was done there amidst extremely hot conditions but shooting at ghats during night was extremely beautiful. Earlier too, I have shot for Rishton Ka Chakravyuh (2017), so I am very familiar with the region.”

Shastri feels having her roots in UP has helped her a lot. “My father was from Allahabad (now Prayagraj) and as a kid I used to go there a lot for summer vacations. My mother is a Maharastrian but she learnt shudh Hindi very early so at home we spoke the language at ease. In fact, I don’t know Marathi that well but Hindi bahut acchi aati hai and that has helped me lot in my work. Thanks to my roots and command over Hindi people don’t believe that I am not from Mumbai.”