Besides Madhuri Dixit Nene making a stellar debut in the OTT space with her latest web series ‘The Fame Game’, the show that premiered on Netflix, was also hugely appreciated for its gripping narrative and effortless performances by the cast. One of the most striking characters of the show being Shobha Trivedi, portrayed by the versatile actress Rajshri Deshpande.
Rajshri, who has proved her mettle as an actor with memorable roles in projects like ‘Sacred Games’, ‘Mcmafia’, ‘My Dog Is Sick’, ‘Nirvanainn’, ‘Kanpuriye’, ‘Angry Indian Goddesses’, ‘Manto’ and ‘S Durga’ among others, has essayed the role of no-nonsense cop Shobha Trivedi who brilliantly probes Anamika Anand’s (Madhuri Dixit) case and meanwhile struggles with her homosexual relationship.
Talking about her prep and the research process for her role in ‘The Fame Game’, Rajshri informs, “Along with being an actor I am a social activist too, and have founded the NGO ‘Nabhangan Foundation’ five years back, through which I closely work with LGBT Community, especially in Mumbai. I know what kind of difficulties, mental trauma they go through especially for acceptance from society, including their families, friends and difficulties they face in their day to day life like earning their livelihood, etc.”
“Since I have worked with LGBT community and their families, it was an honour and opportunity for me to portray them on screen, which was of course very challenging as I had to break the stereotype and create a new world of imagination for my audience, where all my people from LGBT community can live with respect and honour. On playing Shobha Trivedi, I’m often asked about how I embodied her since she is a bold character. But I choose to respectfully differ on the perspective here. Honestly, I don’t understand why we label certain characters as bold and brave just because they haven’t been represented enough in mainstream media,” she adds.
“For me it was no different than getting into the psyche of any other character because these are the people I see in my everyday life, who acknowledge and honour their vulnerabilities, strengths and complexities alike. Acceptance does not always have to be loud to raise a point. Sometimes to stand out we just need to blend in and fix the binaries of the ‘normal’ that exists in the society. That I feel is the key to reclaim what has been denied to certain communities and to create more equal and safe spaces for every single person,” Rajshri concludes.
During Covid pandemic time, team Nabhangan worked with more than 30 villages and the whole team is replicating Pandhari village and working with all those villages to make them self-reliant.