People are surprised that I can act, says Sonali Bendre

Sonali Bendre admits that her acting debut on TV earned her some pretty amusing feedback.

When Sonali Bendre made her fiction debut on the small screen with an Ekta Kapoor production a few months ago, little did she expect it to draw attention to her acting abilities. After all, Sonali has starred in over 45 Bollywood films including several hits like Sarfarosh (1999), Major Saab (1998) and Zakhm (1998). But the comments about her acting abilities didn’t bother her. In fact, she says she found them amusing. “People are surprised that I can act so well. After all these years, that (my acting) is being acknowledged,” she says.

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Nonetheless, Sonali admits that doing the TV show was “petrifying for the first six months”. “But time flies… it has been a wonderful experience. It is a substantial role that allows me to play a character who is my age. I didn’t want to look younger on screen,” she says.

After a run of over three months, the show is now set to end soon. Sonali, meanwhile, is on the lookout for more work. She is also in talks with Riteish Deshmukh for a Marathi film. “The makers are working on the script. So, let’s see how it pans out,” she says. However, Sonali says that she isn’t keen on doing another TV serial just as yet.

“Ekta and I hadn’t done something like this earlier, so, the show was a challenge and an experiment for the both of us. I’d like to take up something that isn’t as taxing as this show,” says Sonali, who found it hard to balance her work life and home during the show. She adds, “I can’t keep shooting these hours while managing my home. Hats off to the working mothers who do it.”