Shalini Pandey is a stubborn woman. Her father wanted her to pursue engineering, so she got her degree, but in her heart she wanted to be a creator. Being from a small town, Jabalpur, she didn’t have exposure to what her career options apart from the classic engineer/doctor/lawyer would be. After doing theatre in college, she told her father that she wanted to become an actor, as she found it a liberating experience, being someone else. After getting her honours degree, she didn’t sit for the campus interviews.
The rebel
“I would lie to my dad that I’m attending them, but I would never. My friends would think I’m a fool and that I’m deliberately destroying my career. I expressed to my father that I wanted to be an actor but he was not okay with the decision. I decided that I have to do this for myself. I left Jabalpur and I came to Bombay and I wrote him a letter saying that I’m not coming back. And that it has nothing to do with him. Otherwise I would have regretted and hated myself for not taking that step. I had some major guts to do that. Because just to come without any money, just anybody would think I’m a crack head. I have to say that the universe was on my side and my stars were aligned, and it worked for me. There was also the chance that it might not work, but I hadn’t considered those possibilities at all,” Shalini told us.
Making her acting debut in the Telugu film Arjun Reddy (2017), Maharaj (2024) on Netflix, starring Junaid Khan, Jaideep Ahlawat and Sharvari was her most recent project. She was with YRF as their talent and was doing Jayeshbhai Jordaar (2022) when she got a call from casting director Shanu Sharma that Aditya Chopra wanted her to be part of their film and wanted to know whether she could dance, as the film has an elaborate garba dance number. The film was shot three years ago, and now she and Junaid have become good friends, and occasionally hang out together.
On Junaid and Jaideep
“He’s a very easygoing guy. It doesn’t matter to him that he’s Aamir Khan’s son. He really works hard and makes sure that if he’s gotten that opportunity, he’s doing right by it,” Shalini says. As far as Jaideep is concerned, she says her job became easier as most of her role was reacting to him, which helped as he is a very good actor. Directed by Siddharth P. Malhotra and produced by YRF Entertainment, the film is based on the Maharaj Libel Case of 1862. Karsan (Junaid Khan) is a progressive thinker and social reformer engaged to be married to Kishori (Shalini Pandey), who follows the godman JJ/Maharaj (Jaideep Ahlawat), who takes advantage of her innocence.
From stalkers to nasty comments
The character is in complete contrast to what Shalini is in real life, and we ask her how she handles being in the limelight, along with the pressures and judgements on social media (she has 2 million Instagram followers). And that’s when we get to know another facet of her life.
“Anybody who’s from a small town, especially a girl, is used to people following you. And I don’t mean social media, I mean physically being followed and catcalled. I was always the centre of attraction in my school and college, as I would express myself freely, not holding back. So I’ve had a practice of it (social media). First of all, I don’t really read the comments. Initially, of course, because you’re putting yourself out there and are vulnerable as an actor, people comment on your body and other aspects, which is a bit sad and affects you. But then with time I’ve realised that that’s not under my control, and I cannot let that affect me. It’s just not something that I should put my energy into,” she explains. Sensible advice from Shalini for those with large social media followings.
One looks forward to watching her in the upcoming Netflix series Dabba Cartel, starring Shabana Azmi, about five women who start dealing drugs through a dabba system, and another show on Amazon Prime directed by Akshat Verma (Delhi Belly).
