Body shaming does exist: Maanvi

Maanvi Gagroo, the actress who is seen in the web series ‘Pitchers and Tripling’, is all set to prove herself as a new character in the web series ‘Four More Shots Please!’, an Amazon Prime Video’s Prime Original comedy in which four female friends deal with romance, work-life conflicts, ambitions and anxieties.

On the new web series, the actress says, “It is a story about four girls who are from south Bombay and from outside.  They are very aspirational, they wear fashionable clothes and have fun going to bars. But, they all have their own problems. The fact is that they are so different in personalities; yet, there is something that bonds all of them: friendship. Friendship is something that helps them move on with issues and obstacles in life.”

The web series is expected to relate to the movie ‘Sex and the City’ because of the trailer, through it would be one-of-its-kind series. Stressing that, Maanvi says, “A lot of people are drawing that impression, which is quite relatable, because they are four girls in this series like in ‘Sex and the City’ who are fashion icons. It is similar in the sense we are following the lives of these girls which includes their professional life, career, men they date, personal life, sexuality etc.; it’s a mix of all of that, so in that way, yes, it is like the movie. But, the characters in the series are very different and the problems that the girls in the series have are different from the movie. ‘Sex and the City’ was done 20 years ago and now everything has changed regarding women. We are talking about more contemporary thing now.”

About her role in the web series, the actress shares, “I play the role of a girl called Siddhi Patel; she is the baby of the group. She is chubby, plump and has a critical relationship with her mother. The mother wants Siddhi to get married and is very critical about her and pushes her to an edge where Siddhi starts rebelling against her mother. She has never got that love from her mother and that is the reason she acts out in many ways like her relationship with food, guys, etc., which is in retaliation to what her mother never gave her. Because she lacks that love from her mother, she finds these three girls and looks up to them.”

Doing something different from what you are identified with is difficult and actors nowadays have been doing that. Talking about doing something different, she shares, “In terms of character, this is something very different; it’s a glamorous character, which is new for me. People say that it is good to see me in the new role and even in terms of character. The characters I have been playing all the time is a woman who is outwardly strong.”

Body shaming has always been a major concern and an issue that most of the actors face in their career and Maanvi is no exception.  Elaborating on body shaming, she says, “I think I would be lying if I say No!, but because we started talking about body shaming even in the West, we see there is so much representation of all types whether it is about skin colour, body type, height, etc.. At a lower level, people do this like the coordinators because they do not understand these things. Body shaming is something that we all do and we need to check our things on that. People say you’re chubby, but you’re pretty so I do not understand why people put but in the statement.”

The actress who is open to playing different characters in her career mentioned about how she is off- and on-camera.  She says, “On camera, I believe that I am different in every character that I play. I try to bring in myself in the roles that I play. Off camera, I am normal. I am a happy person and like to be in a happy space, and only then you can be productive. I like hanging out with friends and talk for hours together.” 

Regarding the season two of the web series, Maanvi says, “They do plan to come up with the second and I honestly believe that this web series has scope to have many more seasons. Once you invest in a character you want to know more about them.”

About her upcoming projects, she says, “Apart from ‘Four More Shots Please! ’I am doing season two of Tripling which is coming out in March. I am very worried about season two because when you are successful in the first season there are rising expectations from people. To be able to meet that expectation is very scary.”