Fiesty four are back

Known for her roles in popular shows and movies like 'TVF Tripling', 'Made in Heaven', 'Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan', actor Maanvi Gagroo is back with her girl gang for the second season of Amazon Prime's most loved show 'Four More Shots Please!'.

The web-series revolves around four flawed women battling through relationships and Maanvi plays the character of Siddhi Patel.

Siddhi is a shy girl who tries to find her calling amidst the chaos of her love life and never-ending family drama. The actor talks with the correspondent of 'Millennium Post' about the new season, about her idea of love and more.

How is 'Four More Shots Please!' season two different from season one?

In season one, our characters along with their life stories were introduced to the audience, giving a slight glimpse into their personal lives to establish where they are coming from. We focused more on their friendship and the world they shared. In season two, we go deeper into their lives.

Even though these women come from the privileged section of society, they are educated, rich, speak English, have access to expensive clothes, they have to deal with day to day issues that every woman (I believe) face across the globe. How they deal with their problems and struggles on the individual level forms the story.

This season is grander with the four girls heading to Istanbul for some adventure. The adventure will begin in Istanbul and conclude in Udaipur, with a major portion of the narrative returning to Mumbai.

What do you dislike about your character the most?

What I dislike about my character is that it took her (Siddhi Patel) really long to get to this point. She lived her life under the shadow of her parents. Her conditioning and upbringing never allowed her to come out of the cocoon and realise that she needs to grow and learn more about life around her.

Your character seems to have grown more confident in season two.

In the new season, Siddhi will seem like a completely different person altogether. But she is still the same. It's more of her reactions to things that have changed, and have become more drastic. She has been very lost in the true sense of the word, like she still doesn't know what it is that she wants from life. However, she's willing to try things out. She decides to open up to more things.

Is 'Four More Shots Please' inspired by 'Sex and the City'?

It is definitely inspired by 'SATC'! The youth of the generation that grew up with 'SATC' got shaped by the story background and atmosphere around the four female characters. So the writers and creators told me that they are interested to make a show like that. There are similarities as both the shows revolve about four female friends and their life story, bond and friendship on an individual and group level, and their independence to make decisions and follow them freely. However, FMSP! is different as it has Indian setting.

Based on your role in the show, is finding love more complicated than being in love?

Love, in general, is complicated. In the current generation, the idea of love is changing. It is becoming more individualistic and that is a good thing, as everybody is defining the type of love they want. I think love ideally should have no rulebook as it is the most positive thing in life. To have rules around love is stupidity. Let lovers do what they want to do in their relationship as long as they aren't hurting each other emotionally. Love is being defined differently by different people and I feel that is a good thing, though it will always be complicated - it may or may not clash with everybody's idea of love, so it is humans who complicate simple and beautiful emotion like love.

Would you say that the show is completely focused on female point of view?

Absolutely! Earlier we didn't have any scenes of female point of view in the industry. For a refreshing change, 'Four More Shots Please' is based on the female's point of view not only in terms of story-telling but also in terms of the growth and development of female characters. It is a story of women told by women.

What do you prefer – OTT platform or cinema?

I don't have a preference for any one medium. The project has to be good, something that I can enjoy doing, the character must be interesting enough, the people need to be a good bunch of collaborative creators who work towards the common goal. These are the things that I usually look forward to and not the kind of medium I work for.

Which character has been the most challenging for you to play in your career?

Honestly, all characters that I played were equally challenging. I believe, even the seemingly easiest characters have certain challenges. The most challenging character for me was 'Goggles' from 'Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan'.

For an actor, it is important to express the emotion through eyes and connect to the audience. However, in the movie, my character wears goggles throughout and so I had to portray the same emotion through my dialogues and actions. That was a real challenge.