Gauahar Khan has swiftly transitioned to OTT and changed her game with impressive performances in shows like ‘Tandav’ and ‘Bestseller’. The actress is only looking for meatier roles and impactful characters and has no issues with restricting her options. In an exclusive tête-à-tête, Gauahar Khan speaks about ‘Bestseller’, her experience of working with Mithun Chakraborty and ‘Tandav’ season 2.

What made you say yes to your role in Bestseller?

I got the script of this show while it was being written, so I was actually reading it episode wise. I was probably one of the first few to be cast on the show. Siddharth P Malhotra’s (filmmaker) conviction in me, drew me more to read it with more interest and to understand why they want me to play Mayanka. She is a character which everyone will relate to because as women it is an instinct to put other people’s needs before ours. My endeavor was to keep the character as real as possible.

How was the experience of working with Mithun Chakraborty?

Mithun da is just a dream to work with. He is brilliant, an institution in himself. We actually shot at a café in Mumbai where he had spent nights as a struggler. He is a buddy to all of us. He was always very appreciative of our work, he gave me many compliments. I was truly in awe of him and I have immense love and respect for him.

Fans absolutely loved your performance in ‘Tandav’ and now ‘Bestseller’ looks promising, too. But then you are doing fewer films, is that a conscious decision?

What happens with films is that the number of offers get restricted and then to choose out of that, because I want to only play roles that are extremely impactful, so it becomes tricky. I end up saying no to many offers, but in OTT, I am getting a lot of work that’s riding on my shoulders. I am getting meatier roles and challenging projects. So yes, you do see me very often on OTT because now there are so many formats too. But I am shooting a film by the end of this month, eventually I don’t know whether it will be a theatrical or an OTT release. I just want to be a credible actor who can be approached for any kind of role.

To conclude, when is the second season of Tandav coming out?

I hope we have a sequel, whenever it is conducive for the producers to do it. I think ‘Tandav’ changed my career game completely. People sat back and noticed that in this entire, huge ensemble cast, Maithili was being talked about. Not just for her sarees and look but also for the impact she had on the entire plot. I am very grateful to Ali Abbas Zafar, who actually pestered me to do that role. I thought, maybe this role will not be that impactful but he really believed that I could do Maithili. And it worked!