‘It was a bit difficult to play Indrani Kothari’

Mumbai: Bollywood star Raveena Tandon said it was a challenge to essay a grey character in her upcoming web series ‘Karmma Calling’, a show that she couldn’t take up 10 years ago.

The show, based on the popular 2011 American series ‘Revenge’, is set in a world of glitz and glamour, filled with deceit and betrayal. It features Tandon as Indrani Kothari, a glamorous queen of the 1990s who is married to a billionaire. Her life changes when a mysterious woman, named Karma (Namrata Sheth), enters the equation.

“The character of Indrani Kothari is very different from the kind of person that I am in real life. For instance, I had to make sure that I didn’t bring in my own thoughts and sympathy. While playing this character, I had to become someone else,” the actor said at the show’s trailer launch event on Tuesday.

The 49-year-old actor, known for movies like ‘Andaz Apna Apna’, ‘Mohra’, ‘Maatr’, ‘Satta’ and ‘Daman’, said it’s been her endeavour to take on different characters.

“For instance, people have seen me in different avatars in ‘KGF 2’ and ‘Aranyak’, but this grey avatar in ‘Karmaa Calling’ is something I’ve never played, be it in films or on OTT. So, it was challenging for me,” she added.

The upcoming thriller series is Tandon’s second outing in the digital space after the 2021 ‘Netflix’ show ‘Aranyak’. She said she has portrayed the character of Indrani Kothari with utmost honesty.

“It was a bit difficult to play Indrani Kothari and you will realise once you see the show. The character is revealed in every episode and you will wonder whether she’s good or bad, so maintaining that balance is difficult. It’s important for us to perform honestly because only then will it strike a chord with the audience,” she said.

Tandon said the show was offered to her a decade ago by Narain, but she had to decline it due to personal reasons.

“Personally, I’m a spiritual person. This show was literally planned 10 years ago when Ruchi ji had come to my office and we had talked about it. It was for ‘Star’ and she needed a lot of dates. At that time, my son, Ranbir, was barely three-four months old, so I had said no to her. So, it was karma that we were all here with the show 10 years later,” the actor said.

Actors Vikramjeet Virk, Waluscha De Sousa, Gaurav Sharma, Viraf Patel, Amy Aela and others round out the cast of the show. ‘Karmma Calling’ will debut on ‘Disney+ Hotstar’ on January 26.