Rajshri Deshpande’s the talk of the town

She may be new to the entertainment industry, but a bold scene in the Netflix web series Sacred Games has made Rajshri Deshpande the talk of the town. The actress plays Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s wife on the show, and her performance is being appreciated by most people. Not surprisingly, there are also some trolls who’re bashing her and calling her a porn star, but she’s unfazed.

“I don’t give a damn about these things. I will admit there was a point when I felt bad about being called a porn star. But at the end of the day, we are entertainers, and we are here to present different characters on screen. As an actor, I have moved on to my next project and now I’m ignoring people’s negative comments,” Rajshri says.

Did the role and what it demanded scare her a little bit initially? “Yes, I was concerned because I come from a typical middle-class Maharashtrian family. But my mother has been very supportive. She knows and approves of the choices I have made in my life,” the actress says, adding “My husband is also extremely supportive. Though he is not from this industry, he is very progressive. He is also my biggest critic, so when he saw my work and loved it, that gave me a high.”

Rajshri isn’t worried that her controversial role will cause her to be typecast. “Rajkummar went nude in Shahid, but that doesn’t mean he’s gone nude in all his films since then. Why put women in boxes? I feel we have amazing, sensible directors and I am not scared of being typecast,” she says, confidently.