Sakshi Tanwar talks about evolution of on-screen mother narrative 

Netflix is back with a high voltage crime-thriller series, ‘Mai’. Co-directed by Atul Mongia and Anshai Lal,  the series stars actor ‘Sakshi Tanwar’ as the protagonist ‘Sheel’. Essaying the role of a demure, middle  aged mother, Sakshi Tanwar plays the role of a docile woman who gets swept into the power play of politics,  after she witnesses the brutal murder of her daughter. 

For decades, the entertainment industry has been inspired by mothers, and created a myriad of characters  that are the picture of sacrifice and virtue. With time, there has been an evolution in the representation of  on-screen female characters, thanks to the actors, writers and creators who have been catalysts of change.  With respect to this, actor Sakshi Tanwar throws light on her character ‘Sheel’ in ‘Mai’ and the modern  mother character that we see on-screen. 

She shares, “We have mostly seen on screen mothers as ‘loving and kind’ or ‘strict and overbearing’. The  viewers are now seeing the various facets and dimensions of the motherhood experience especially after  the advent of OTT. It’s a great time to be an actor and to be playing such layered characters because now  we truly get to explore every facet of a mother‘s character that, for so long, was hidden.” 

Elaborating on how she ended up doing ‘Mai’, Sakshi Tanwar added, “I auditioned for this show by way of  a mock shoot, for some of the most difficult scenes from the series, back in December 2019. It was an  impromptu expression of what I felt on the spot. Post that, Atul (Mongia) Sir and I did a few intense  workshops to understand how much we were in sync and what our collaboration can lead to. Luckily, they  thought I was a good fit for the character ‘Sheel’ and that’s how I landed my first Netflix Original series.””