‘After Uri, everybody was calling me for sister roles’: National Film Award winner Manasi Parekh | Exclusive

Manasi Parekh Pic/Instagram

It took two decades of sheer hard work and determination for actor and producer Manasi Parekh to win not one but three National Film Awards for her Gujarati film ‘Kutch Express' (2023). She marked her acting debut with ‘India Calling' and went on to feature in shows like ‘Gulaal' and ‘Sumit Sambhal Lega'. In an exclusive interaction with mid-day.com, Manasi gets candid about her journey in showbiz and why she chose the regional route instead of pursuing the typical Bollywood dream.

Manasi Parekh on breaking the glass ceiling

Manasi Parekh, who switched to production likens the process to parenting. She explains, "I have a lot of grit, and being a mother has made me grittier. Once you become a parent, no challenge is big enough. I became a parent at the same time that I became a producer. I think parenting and production are pretty similar. Every day there's a new challenge. No matter how prepared you are, something will go wrong. And both require tremendous amounts of patience. Mansi is somebody who is a quintessential underdog. You cannot slot me in any box because a lot of people were like, ‘You're married, you have a daughter, how are you going to continue your career?', especially in an industry that is looks-obsessed, age-obsessed."

Manasi Parekh recalls her struggles and hardships

Manasi Parekh was discovered by Ektaa Kapoor. However, she asserts that in this industry you're only as good as your last show, and you need to keep working and figuring out your next gig. She says, "I've gotten out of my home at 8 am with three pairs of different clothes and gone from one audition to the other, waited with 150 people for that same role. There's always been struggle and hardship and I've embraced it. Because I think struggle is what defines you. And only because I've done all that and I've been through all that, does the victory seem even sweeter because it's not handed over to you. You've earned every bit of it."

Manasi Parekh on being typecast after ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike'

Manasi Parekh recalls moments when she wasn't doing any work and how the hunger to do better led her to become a producer. You're always in a space of either work and then gaps when there is no work. When it was new, I was not used to the gaps. I would deal with it in a very sad way. I'd get very cranky. I realised it was just a pattern, that's how this industry functions,' she says.

In ‘Uri', Manasi essayed the role of Vicky Kaushal's sister. When asked why she did not pursue Bollywood further, she avers, "Because I played a sister in that, suddenly everybody was calling me for sister roles. That's what happens sometimes in Bollywood. They just typecast you. I was like, ‘Yaar, I'm capable of so much more'. And that's when I turned producer. I'm going to create my own opportunities. Why wait for somebody to cast us?"

Manasi signs off by sharing her mantra for anyone who wants to make it big. "No matter what you're feeling, no matter what you're going through, just show up for what you believe in, it might take time but it will always come to you," she concludes.