Theatre, television, films and now OTT, Ratna Pathak Shah has graced all kinds of mediums in her four-decade long career as an actor. Her portrayal of Maya Sarabhai, a snobbish socialite in Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, earned cult status over the years. The first season which aired on television was a runwaway hit. The 64-year-old made her OTT debut with the second season Sarabhai vs Sarabhai in 2017. Although it evoked a mix response from the fans of the show, Shah was appreciated for her performance. In fact many people were curious if the third season was in the offing.
When News18 asked the veteran actor, she said, “We would all love there to be something in the making. It all depends on Aatish Kapadia (writer) because that shows nothing without him. So if he can put an interesting script together, then I think we all will be delighted to come back. But I guess the second season was a bit of a mixed experience for the audience, as well as for the actors. And if we do come back, we should come back stronger than that for sure.”
Talking about the mixed response that the second season received, Shah said that when you make a comeback after a long time it’s difficult to find the right balance, “You feel that you know the world has changed so much around you, maybe you should also change? Maybe the audience wants something familiar. So is there a way to give them that sense of familiarity, and yet to do something fresh? That’s always the challenge on OTT where filmmakers try to do series in various seasons. If you take a long break, coming back is often difficult. So I hope this time around the break hasn’t been so long. So maybe We will be able to do something interesting. I really hope the third season happens.”
Shah, who has worked on several OTT projects including Selection Day and her last release Hum Do Humare Do, has been getting better offers thanks to streaming platforms. The actor says while OTT is still at a nascent stage, she hopes it bring about the much needed change in the industry.
“It is a new platform, and we don’t know where it is going. But I’ve got my fingers crossed that we don’t do the television number again. Once upon a time, the television platform seemed like a completely new way of looking at the world. And look what we’ve done with it. I really thought that it would change the kind of way we tell our stories. But that did not happen. Look how it is now stuck in the saas-bahu show mess or those crappy reality shows. Let’s hope OTT doesn’t go that route,” she says.
She adds, “Scripts are being given the importance and many actors are coming up with some fine performances. OTT has had a lovely run for the last two years. But we will have to wait and watch how things pan out in the future.”
