Sakshi Tanwar makes her 'bold' presence felt

Mumbai: Popular TV actress Sakshi Tanwar's O Re Manwa and Bawra Mann were part of Film Mart section at the ongoing 13th Mumbai Film Festival. She plays the other woman and a bored wife looking for a relationship out of marriage in the two short films respectively and says she enjoyed attempting something she had not done before.

O Re Manwa won the best international narrative short at the New York International Film Festival in 2009 while Bawara Mann was an official selection at the La Femme International Film Festival. Both the films are directed by Mitu.

"I did O Re Manwa first and I played the other woman. It was from the point of view of the other woman and it was treated with so much respect and dignity, which otherwise you don't get to see because the other woman is always treated with contempt," Sakshi told IANS.

"In Bawara Mann, the story is operating at two levels and I got to play two characters in the same shot-- there is a writer, which Nishikant Kamat is playing, and I personify his out-of-the-box thinking. I am his thinking which is bullying him into writing what she wants to do in this story," she said.

"And it is also about a bored wife whose husband doesn't have time for her and she is basically exploring other relationships out of marriage. I was excited and fascinated by the idea of doing two characters in the same shot and within the same story. The best part is the director is also a woman and she has written it, so the dignity of the wife and the other woman is intact. That is the beauty of the story."

Sakshi played a perfect bahu on the small screen for eight years and even now she is seen as an ideal daughter in Bade Achche Lagte Hain, but she says she had no inhibitions while playing these two unconventional characters.

"I was comfy doing it because shooting for them was so interesting--it was like a workshop. There was no set style and there was a freedom to do something."

Sakshi signed these two films during her break from television.

"When Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, which ran for eight years, got over, I just had one thought in my mind--I wanted to put my feet up and relax for while. I thought I had worked hard enough to deserve a break.

"The good thing was that during the two-and-a-half-years I was getting offers. It was like industry still has faith in me and I was happy that there is work. And during that period I got offers of these two short films.

"I thought they didn't require much time commitment, they were interesting subjects and were giving me an opportunity to do something which I hadn't attempted. They were bold and relatable subjects and I thought I should give it a try," she said.