Neha Joshi: Restraining myself was tough

Neha Joshi breaks down why the role of a mother in Doosri Maa challenged her despite having played a similar role in Dr BR Ambedkar

Hailing from a content-rich background in Marathi cinema, Neha Joshi, who made her mainstream television debut with Ek Mahanayak – Dr BR Ambedkar, is back with another show, Doosri Maa. Having played a mother in her previous outing, when most actors would shy away from repeating themselves, Joshi embraces the role and looks out for nuances to improve herself. “The channel has faith in me and working with Imtiaz [Punjabi, director-producer] is a no-brainer,” says the actor. The powerful script was another draw. 

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Doosri Maa revolves around Joshi’s character Yashoda, who adopts her husband’s illegitimate child. “My character is stuck in a dilemma between an innocent child and her husband’s deceit, but she cannot turn a blind eye. While being the perfect homemaker, mother, and daughter-in-law, she is also a social worker and hence cannot ignore the child. Playing out these emotions and Yashoda’s journey seemed exciting to me,” says Joshi. While playing a mother came easy to her, restraining herself emotionally was a tougher job. “I cry when I am happy, sad, angry, and scared. It’s second nature to me, but Yashoda is calm and composed. Restraining myself [from bursting into tears] was tough,” explains the actor, who will next be seen in the Hindi adaptation of Drishyam 2.

There have been rumours that the story of Drishyam 2 has been altered to suit the taste of the Hindi-speaking audience. Confirming the same about the Ajay Devgn-starrer, Joshi says that while there have been small changes, “the skeleton of the story remains untouched”. The opportunity is a big deal for the actor, especially sharing screen space with Tabu “They didn’t treat me like a newbie on set. This was more special because I am a big Tabu fan. I love her,” fangirls Joshi.

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