Follow granny’s ground rules

Tanvi Azmi

Dil Dosti Dilemma is packaged as a feel-good YA series. But Tanvi Azmi, who plays the protagonist's supportive yet strict grandmother, believes it is designed for youngsters as well as their parents. One of the reasons it resonated with her is that it addressed youngsters' attitude towards elders. "In certain scenes, my character tells her granddaughter, Asmara, that she has to respect certain values. That's who I am. I'm intolerant of children who are disrespectful of their elders. It's important to [impart these values] to the young audience in a non-preachy way," says the senior actor.

Azmi believes the Prime Video series - also starring Anushka Sen, Shishir Sharma and Kush Jotwani - works as a learning for modern-day parents, too. "Nowadays, parents are so pressured by their peers that they shower money on their children so that they don't feel less than their contemporaries. But why aren't you building your children's confidence? Why aren't you raising them to be happy with what they have and their capabilities? I feel parents are doing a huge disservice to their kids. These kids are talented, bright and exposed to so much more. They are far more intelligent than we were at that age. Yet, they are lost and floundering," she says.

Just weeks before Dil Dosti Dilemma streamed, the actor was seen in a completely different avatar as a judge in Maamla Legal Hai. Opportunities for female actors across ages have amplified, and Azmi says she couldn't be happier about it. "It's a dramatic shift. I have two more shows [coming up]. When you see the kind of work being put out, you have two options - either you sit at home, or you pick what challenges you from the work coming your way. If you are okay with trying something new, it's the best time to be around."