Actor-director Renuka Shahane’s web series Starting Troubles shatters the myth of focussing only on one aspect of career and asks people to pursue their passion they dreamt of as kids. By Team Viva

Have your childhood dreams turned into a reality today? Do you think you have been able to accomplish most of what you had imagined as a kid? Has your passion of being a football player or a contemporary dancer fulfilled?

Starting Troubles, a medical humour by stand-up comedian, author and doctor Jagdish Chaturvedi, aims to shatter the myth that ‘if we want to be successful, we should focus on only one thing in life’, a mindset that has restricted millions from living their dreams while they continue their jobs. People usually stop acting, dancing or singing and sacrifice their interests they dreamt about as children or even if they pursue their passion, they are judged and called unfocussed and confused.

From Pooja Bhabhi of Hum Aapke Hain Kaun to Dr Kavita Gowda, actor Renuka Shahane shares about her long gap, the digital wave and her latest web series.

Medical dramas are usually serious. We mostly look at it as something about health and serious issues and never through a humouristic point of view...

Yes. This is the most common mindset when there’s anything related to doctors or a medical series. And this is exactly what we wanted to break through our series. Even the script doesn’t have a linear narrative, the story keeps going back and forth, which made it more interesting. It was all fun. The atmosphere on the set was very relaxed, we were mostly laughing on something or the other. And I think that as actors it is important to enjoy your script.

What would you say about your character in the series? How challenging was it to carve yourself into Dr Kavita?

 I play a very strict doctor and expect a certain level of professionalism from my interns and resident officers. But as the story moves forward one will see that the doctor is the guiding force of all the students who want to do something different in life.

The challenge in playing this role was to have a command over the medical jargon. When you watch international series like Grey’s Anatomy and others, you will notice that the actors are very fluent with medical terms. But here that’s not the case as we don’t have too many medical dramas. Dr Chaturvedi is a practising surgeon, so he made sure that we got the terms right. After the rehearsals he even said that I sound like his mentor. That genuinely made me happy.

If there is a remake of Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, would like to play Pooja again?

I will always cherish this role but I don’t see myself playing Pooja in the remake. However, I would love to see Alia Bhatt playing Madhuri’s character.

The market for bold content on digital space is growing. Will we see you in any such shows?

Yes, there is a growing market for erotic content now but I don’t see myself doing it, though I don’t mind if other actors from the same show are comfortable doing it. It also depends on what the story demands. I am very old-school, a lot of people are comfortable doing it but not me.

Your last directorial Rita released 10 years ago and there have been intervals between your acting projects. People have been wondering about this long gap...

For me, it is very important to balance everything, both home and work. That’s why this gap. I am not the kind of person who can do too many things simultaneously. It’s important for me to be there for my kids. And it’s not something imposed on me or I feel bad about, this is a choice I made when I had kids and I’m happy about it. Now that they are grown ups so I will find more time to do things. Though, it’s very difficult to maintain a balance.

We haven’t seen you playing a comic role before. How was it exploring the genre?

It’s nice to explore that part of you because as an actor you are not offered such roles quite often. I like playing characters which have a little bit of humour in it. Whether it’s What the Folks (2018) or Starting Troubles, you are catering to the youth so it has to be catchy and funny.

How do you find web stories different from theatres?

The biggest difference between theatres and web series is the freedom that the latter offers. It doesn’t confine you and gives the freedom to express as many stories and emotions you want to. There is a lot of scope too. Also, if you decide to make something slightly unconventional, people have to decide whether they want to take the risk or not.