I would never have accepted Mastani if I were Kashibai: Ishita Ganguly

Sony TV’s popular show ‘Peshwa Bajirao’ has impressed audience with its brilliant screenplay and actors who don’t act but live their characters. The Sphere Origin’s production has kept the viewers hooked with way the story is unfolding. Yesterday, on July 7, the show had taken a leap, and the actors playing lead characters of the grown up Bajirao and Kashibai are Karan Suchak fame ‘Sia ke Ram’ and Ishita Ganguly fame ‘Shastri sisters’ respectively.

We got in touch with Ishita, and in a candid chat with us she shared details of her character and the show.

She was much pepped about her role in the daily soap, talking about her being cast in the role quipped she, “I have seen the movie Bajirao Mastani, and I really liked the character of Kashibai as it is a strong as well as a challenging role. It’s an iconic character, and this is the first time I’m acting in a period drama, so I’m very excited about it.”

The show was first portraying the childhood of the lead characters, all of them did a fabulous job, Ishita praised all the kids wholeheartedly, “All the child actors have done a fabulous job. They have taken the show to the next level, and this has made it more challenging for us. I hope we continue to impress the audience.”

The Sanjay Leela Bhansali epic saga on the silverscreen has already depicted Peshwa Bajirao, Mastaani and Kashibai in such a poetic manner that it is difficult to reimagine it on the small screen, whoever it is being done and the makers are doing a great job at that. However, the comparisons between the characters are inevitable. Shedding light on the comparison between Priyanka Chopra’s portrayal of Kashibai and her’s, she said, “Well, it’s an honor to be compared to a great actress like Priyanka. She has done wonderful job as Kashibai, but I don’t want to copy anybody. I want to do it my way.”

When taking up such a herculean role, it is more than evident that a lot of preparations are mandatory. Especially for a person who doesn’t belong to a particular caste (Ishita is a Bengali and Kashibai (the role she is portraying) is a Marathi). Imbibing the mannerisms, the accent so on and so forth is not easy unless rigorous research and training is done. We asked her whether she underwent any such training for the character she is portraying, she informed, “Well, I have worked upon my accent and posture most of all. I have also learnt horse riding and weapon training, because it’s a period drama so I may need it any time.”

Talking further about Kashibai’s character and how much does she relate to it in real life, she shared, “I do relate to kashibai. She’s a dignified and strong woman. But yes, her kind of sacrifice is something I won’t be able to do ever.”

That stance of hers’ took us to our next question; we had to then ask her, what she would’ve done had she been in Kashibai’s place in real life, to which she quickly retorted, “I would have never accepted Mastani.”

Stay connected to this space for updates of the show.