Exclusive: Maanvi Gagroo on OTT her career and feminism

Maanvi Gagroo has always been known for her honesty, fearless approach and unapologetic stance on difficult issues. That sets the actress apart from a lot of her peers. Recently, she has been capturing hearts with her role in Half Love Half Arranged Season 2 along with Rithvik Dhanjani and Karan Wahi. In an exclusive interview with Filmfare, the actress opened up on the second season of the show, how OTT gave a new direction to her career and why she never shies away from calling herself a feminist. Excerpts:

OTT changed the game for me in some ways. Before OTT, there were only films and television. And in both the mediums, people thought I wasn’t suited. For television, they felt that I didn’t look the part. For films, they never knew what to do with me. Because they thought they could neither put me as the main lead nor the main lead’s best friend. Back then the roles were very categorical for women. Then OTT came about, where roles were written for normal girls. People like you and me. The characters talked about relatable problems. Then they needed actors who were good and relatable.

Which character would you say was the most difficult or challenging to portray on screen?

Two of my characters have been extremely hard to portray but for very different reasons. The first one is Siddhi Patel from Four Mour Shorts Please. I gave it all my physical, emotional and mental strength. While one part of me was connected with her, there was a part of me which wasn’t. Although I have been a confident person always, when it came to dressing, I had a lot of restrictions. I wouldn’t wear short clothes because I thought I looked fat. Four More Shorts Please changed that for me because I was only wearing short clothes in that and after that, I have not stopped wearing them. Suddenly I realised it was all in my head. The other one is Riya from Half Love, Half Arranged because I was judging my character. I used to almost dislike the character while playing her.

It’s getting harder and harder. But I’ve also grown up with social media so I would have been very active even if I wasn’t an actor. But, what I don’t like is when people, social media managers or managers call and say that I need to post more or do a certain thing. I don’t want a regimented thing around that. There are times when I post a lot and then there are times when I don’t feel like posting. And I should be allowed that. Earlier I used to be very vocal about a lot of things.

I come back to the basics each time. Feminism is the equality of both sexes. So anyone who is not a feminist is a sexist. If all those people who feel shy calling themselves feminists, are they saying they are sexist? Does that give you more pride to say that? I don’t understand why people shy away unless they are sexist. But if you believe in equality, then what is the problem with the word feminism? I am very proud to be a feminist.

I think both. Maybe they have this that feminists are women who hate men and are women who are not happy, don’t want to get married and are evil. That is a wrong categorization. A lot of this comes from privilege and a lot comes from being ignorant.

Unfortunately, it differs from case to case depending on who they’re speaking against. The decision of the rest of the people would depend on that. There’s a lot of judgment. Depending on where our loyalties lie, if we like that actor, we’ll think the woman is lying. If we like the woman, then we’ll think that the accused is a creep. I wish women could speak about this. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. If the perpetrator is not a big name in the industry, then they will be weeded out. But if they are someone big, then the accusations won’t even put a small dent in their career.

The fourth season of Four More Shorts Please will be coming out hopefully next year. I also did another film called Heer Sara which is expected to release in the first half of next year.