EXCLUSIVE! Shubharambh’s Mahima Makwana Talks About Lockdown, Her Film Mosagallu, Dealing With Anxiety During Quarantine & More

Mahima Makwana, who is currently playing the lead role of Rani in the show Shubharambh, is making the most of her quarantine time. Due to the lockdown, the shooting of all the films and TV shows have been called off, including Mahima’s. The actress will also be seen in a Tollywood-Hollywood flick Mosagallu which stars Kajal Agarwal, Vishnu Manchu and Suniel Shetty.

Koimoi spoke to Mahima Makwana about what she’s doing during the lockdown, her show, her film and much more.

Read the full interview below:

What are your thoughts on the TV shoots being called off?

I would not say whatever is happening is wrong. Not just television, but the shoots of the whole entertainment industry is being called off. When it comes to TV, it makes more of a difference as we work on a daily basis here. The shooting has been stalled, therefore the telecast is also affected. Most of the shows don’t have a bank of episodes on a daily basis. There was a bank of episodes of Shubharamb for at least a week or more. But now the lockdown is also increased, we will have no bank later to showcase the episodes. The rerun of episodes is the only option.

Everybody understands the situation is all over the world, almost. Nobody can’t help it. I totally support the decision. But yes, work has stopped. However, at the end of the day, it is happening for our good. The more people stay in, the safer they will be.

Your show has been airing for almost 3 months now. What do you have to say about the love and acceptance it is receiving?

Initially, when the show started, the TRPs were quite average for the 9 pm slot. It’s been quite a long time since I’ve been in the industry. So I know you skip a heartbeat with this slot as it’s a tough slot and there have been established show on the other competitive channel. Slowly and gradually, the TRPs have been increasing and we have gone from 1.4 to 1.7. It’s been quite a win-win situation for us. We started shooting the show in the month of September last year and in December, the show went on air.

A lot of people experience restlessness or anxiety during the lockdown. Are you facing it? What can one do to deal with such a situation?

I’m not in that situation as I have my family with me. But in some cases, people are staying alone. Even actors, there are many who have shifted here for their careers. They can’t even go to their family as travel has been stalled all over. I feel sad that they are not with their families during these times. I think, what one can do is invest themselves in some of the other activities like reading, writing, watching movies or cultivating news habits or hobbies. I know this is easy to say. Even though I’m with my family, I sometimes feel frustrated that how many days more. I think to deal with anxiety and restless, the only option I can see is to evolve yourself in some of the other activities.

Your Tollywood-Hollywood flick was supposed to release during summer this year. What’s the update amid the lockdown? How has the experience of working on the film been?

Everything is stalled. I also had a web series. I had to go for the web series’ dubbing too but I couldn’t do it earlier as I was shooting for Shubharambh. On the last day of the show’s shooting, I almost shot for 24 hours stretch. We had to do it has in less time we had to deliver more episodes. The unit was awake for almost 24 hours. Even 2-3 days before that we were shooting for extra hours.

I did my first Telugu film in 2015. I was getting a lot of offers for films, but I thought I’ll get better with the language first. Also, work on TV kept me really busy. But this was a Hollywood-Tollywood flick and it’s based on a real story of a call centre scam. So I thought, why not? I’m going to be the flip-changer of the film. Kajal Aggarwal and Vishnu Manchu are the protagonists, we also have Suniel Shetty. I’m someone who also has a pivotal role in it. So I thought, why not do it? For me, it was a new experience as it was a dual language film. We had to shoot each shot twice – once in Telugu and once in English. My director and my DOP are from LA. For them to adjust with Tollywood crew was an atmosphere and work pattern change. It was like different industries working on one film – from Hollywood, Tollywood, TV and also Bollywood. It was an exciting experience to work on the film. Quite fun and waiting for it to come out.

What do you have to say about the lockdown and what are you doing during quarantine? What do you suggest others to do?

The quarantine is surprisingly going nice. The first week was quite slow. But I’ve been spending time with myself, my family, watching movies, trying to read some stuff and have also started working out at my place. It’s quite fun. I’ve been waking quite late. It’s very relaxing. It’s good. I’d say explore yourself if you can’t explore the world outside.

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