Star kids too have to face challenges, says Bhagyashree's daughter

Avantika Dassani studied to be a business and marketing associate, but she knew acting was in her blood, what with her coming from a family of actors. She says that she has always been inclined towards the creative and performing arts, but after taking a few acting workshops, she really fell in love with the profession.

Having made her debut with the OTT show Mithya, Dassani feels grateful that her work has been noticed and appreciated by the audience. Says she, “The story was good, and with all these great actors, I thought I’ll pass off as half-decent, but it’s been overwhelming to see people recognise me for my acting, rather than for just being Bhagyashree’s daughter.”

What Dassani liked most about her debut was that she portrayed a grey character on-screen, “an explosive character, who when comes on the screen, something goes down every single time”. What was interesting to her was that even though hers was a menacing character, who caused hell in everyone’s lives, the audience could relate to her psyche, her reason and logic of doing certain things, and also empathise with her. She adds that she also tried to modulate her voice on the screen as and when the script required, which she feels added more layer to it.

But being on the sets of a thriller for the first time as an actor came with its own set of challenges for Dassani. She shares that her climax scene, “the catharsis, which was the most intense and grueling of all”, was shot in the first week itself. Interestingly, another challenge the crew faced was being in sync with the weather. Says Dassani, “Almost like a co-actor for us on the shoot was the element of fog, and we had to wait long hours and rush to the sets just as the fog settled in each day.”

However, all the roadblocks only brought the cast closer together. Dassani shares that it almost felt like they were on a vacation, playing badminton between takes, ordering in food, and playing pranks on each other. She grins, “On the first day of the shoot, the writers and producers told me that they had decided to change the end completely. Luckily for me, they weren't very good at acting, so I didn’t fall for it.” She adds, though, that she has been warned by many that not all shoots would be fun and that she should be prepared for a lot of bad experiences as well.

But what is it like being Bhagyashree’s daughter in an industry that is criticised for its nepotism abundantly? Dassani feels that for whosoever it might be, the challenges in Bollywood never end. Not for Alia Bhatt, not for Deepika Padukone, and certainly not for a newcomer like her. She says that she’s been auditioning for a long period of time, and that “nothing has been offered on a silver platter” to her.

Dassani goes on to say, “My brother [Abhimanyu Dassani] and my mom have done great work in this industry, so they have people who respect them. So people know about me, and will have a conversation with me, but they're not going to give me a film or a show because of that.”

For now, Dassani is working on a Telugu film and a few other projects that are still in the early stages.

(This was first published in National Herald on Sunday)