As an actress, I draw a lot of strength from women around me, says Shraddha Dangar

Known for her nuanced performance in Hellaro, Shraddha Dangar loves her craft. She had acted in three films before winning her first Special Award Jury at the 66th National Film Awards for her portrayal of Manjri in Hellaro. She was last seen in Luv Ni Love Storys just before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. Shraddha, who was on a sabbatical for the past two years because of the pandemic, has signed a new film, 31, with women empowerment as the central subject of it.The film that is directed by Pranav Patel and produced by Bhaumik Patel also stars Hitu Kanodia, Parikshit Tamaliya and Hemang Dave among others. In a freewheeling conversation, the actor talks about signing films around women empowerment, her wish to work with director Nagraj Manjule and more.
On being asked if she makes a conscious effort to sign scripts based on women empowerment, Shraddha says, “No, actually I am fortunately being offered such projects. My purpose is to just portray a character that resonates with the audience. As an actor, we don’t have an option in the Gujarati film industry to choose between scripts that offer different characters. Luckily, whatever characters are coming my way are well-written.”

Shraddha who plays the role of a rape victim's sister in her newly signed film, 31, fights for her sister's justice throughout the film. So, does she wish to become a voice to reckon with so far as empowering women is concerned? “I think, an actor has the power of mass appeal and can bring across a message to the audience very well. Though, as an actor, we have no control over the kind of subjects we are offered but when one does get a chance to become a torchbearer, the person must take the opportunity,” says Shraddha.
She adds, “After Hellaro, I came across a lot of stories around me where I proactively wanted to take a stand. I think this change happened to me after playing Manjri (her character in Hellaro). So, the power that came within me just made me want to take bits and pieces of courage from women around me and take a stand for those who were victims of harassment,” says Shraddha who adds, “Over the years, I have realised not to take a decision based on just one side of the story. What matters in a story of harassment is the person and not the gender of the person. A man can be just as much a victim as a woman, though, the ratio is still skewed more toward women.”
A lot of actors from Dhollywood have shifted their base to Mumbai. Does Shraddha want to go the Bollywood way too? “For me, a stage or language doesn’t matter. I am ready to take up offers from other regional film industries too, not just Bollywood. I am fascinated by the South film industry and I really want to do a film in Marathi too. I wish to someday work with Nagraj Manjule (who directed Sairat),” says Shraddha.
Hellaro was released in November 2019, after which the world went into a COVID induced lockdown within five months. Does Shraddha feel that she could not bask in the success of a National-award winning film due to the pandemic? “Actually COVID affected the industry as a whole. So, it wasn’t like I lost those projects to someone else. The ones that were made for me are coming my way, though, slightly later than anticipated, but better late than never. Sometimes some situations are out of your control and I am not the only person in this boat at the moment. The whole world is going through a slowdown, so it doesn’t affect me that much,” says Shraddha.
Shraddha has been engaged for a while now. Ask her about her plans and she says, “I do not wish to talk about my personal life. I like keeping it to myself and want my work to speak for me. I am not a celebrity whose life the audience would be interested in. As far as revealing details are concerned, whatever I am comfortable with, I am already putting it out on social media. That’s the maximum I want to reveal,” she concludes.