Saiee M Manjrekar played the younger version of actor Tabu’s character recently in Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha (AMKDT), where. Ask her about it and the actor says, “I was a nervous wreck. I was feeling a lot of pressure as she is an artiste I have looked up to all my life and felt inspired by. So, I had to give my best and my all. But after a lot of workshops and training, I became a lot calmer.”
Recalling her first meeting with Tabu, the 22-year-old says, “Neeraj sir (Pandey, filmmaker) called me into the office one day and Tabu ma’am was there. He told me she’d read out my lines and I’d have to remember her tonality. I was just nervously blabbering while she graciously was delivering my lines.”
While she had a great time working on AMKDT, the box-office failure of the film came as a disappointment to Saiee. She says, “This is a film which was all heart, made with a lot of love, hard work, blood, sweat and tears. It was everyone’s baby. So, it was obviously a little bit disheartening. At the end of the day, we just want the film to reach as many people as possible and for them to give it love,” adding that she hopes the film finds its audience on OTT. “It’s just about timing, I think this was the wrong timing. You just have to wait for the right film at the right time,” she says.
But how does her father, actor-filmmaker Mahesh Majrekar advise her to deal with failures? “He has seen those times, and I have been there to witness him go through it, so I’ve just learnt from observing him. Him and my mom have been so strong and dealt with tough times head on, and that’s what they have taught me to do as well.” However, in this uncertain time on the box office, the actor feels scared of filmmakers being skeptical of taking chances on young actors. “It is really scary at times when you really think about it. But I feel the thrill of watching a film on the big screen will never go away. Eventually, when you find the pulse of the audience, it will all come back.”
Even after coming from a film background, Saiee’s acting choices have been unconventional, with the typical Bollywood masala films not being a part of her filmography still. She insists it has been due to a mix of a conscious decision as well as lack of offers. “I want to show some substance, and then probably move to a phase where I don’t have to do that anymore. I just have to prove myself worthy of getting that opportunity then I will run with it,” she says, adding that she does want to do those lavish commercial films. “You grow up watching that only. When you dream of becoming an actor, that’s what you dream about. I want to do it; just have to wait for the wrong time. Probably then there will be a shift in how people see me,” she ends.
