Sandhya Mridul interview: On new comedy show Ridiculous Ms. Mridul and future plans

What is the inspiration behind Ridiculous Ms. Mridul?

Ridiculous Ms. Mridul is a slice-of-life kind narration of fictional and real experiences of women. It’s a fun, easy, light take on relationships, men and sex. It makes fun of things we do that we don’t realise – both as single and married women. It also looks at the position of single women in society – the judgements passed on them, the assumptions about them if they are attractive, and the many misconceptions in general. It’s also about the imaginary battle between the so-called blissfully single and the unhappily married women.

I’m nervous as hell since it’s my first solo gig! But at the end of the day, I’m just having fun with this show – something that we need in these dark times. Even if I can make 10 people laugh, I’m happy. I also like dark humour and feel it’s the best thing to make fun of ourselves. In everything I do, besides the humour, there is a point I make. In Ridiculous Ms. Mridul too I am focussing onthe journey of a single woman, and how often it becomes extremely judged, lonely and misunderstood.

How has your experience in theatre been so far?

I love the stage, and I have always wanted to spend more time doing theatre. I have done a couple of very good plays in the past but I have done very little theatre unfortunately. My last play was August: Osage County in 2013 with Lillete Dubey, for which we got the India rights from the original Hollywood film. I played Julia Roberts’ part in it. We travelled with the play all across the country and abroad as well. It was a fantastic play with many actors.

I also did Zen Katha: The Story of Bodhidharma, with Lillete, which was written by Partap Sharma. I learnt karate from Sensei Pervez Mistry for it. I love doing stuff like that, where I’m learning something new. Another one I did was a two-actor play directed by Mahesh Dattani called Double Deal with Mahesh Manjrekar. It is based on the thriller novel Killing Time by Richard Stockwell.

Tell us about your journey in the entertainment industry, traversing cinema, TV, theatre and OTT.

I’ve always believed in doing work that excites me. I don’t just do something for the sake of keeping busy or if someone is paying me well for it. I always like to do roles that I haven’t done before. Even while on television, I experimented with the roles. Even though I played a popular bahu on a show, I never repeated that kind of role . For instance, I did Koshish — Ek Aashaa, then I did a double role in Hubahu with Rajat Kapoor.

While doing films, my favourite film was Waisa Bhi Hota Hai – much as I enjoyed doing Saathiya, Page 3 and Honeymoon Travels. I choose the people and the work carefully – each role has to be different from the last one – maybe I niched myself out a lot. Acting for me is not a job. It is my love and I don’t want to take on load to the point that i stop enjoying it. It’s good that people still find me fresh. That’s great, because I haven’t overexposed myself. I’m still relevant, and have options.

So, what are your plans for the future.

The next piece that I’ve written touches upon a serious topic in a light-hearted way. I have an applause show releasing soon, and a new project that’s starting in November. I like to take frequent breaks and step back in my career to lead a happy, holistic life. I read, write, travel and walk in the mountains; especially since COVID-19, I’m very particular about spending time with myself, my family and Nature. I’m not a planner by nature. I never knew I was going to be an actor honestly. I had a good corporate career, and I just walked away from it one fine day.