She has become one of the most loved characters on television thanks to her role of Meenakshi Rathi in Diya Aur Baati Hum. But that doesn’t stop Kanika Maheshwari from experimenting with different mediums. The actress has recently penned down, produced and acted in a heart-breaking short film that revolves around a mother-daughter relationship after the former has been diagnosed of cancer. The film titled Forever Whim, has been well received at various film festivals. It also won an award at the Melbourne City Independent Film Awards 2018.
“This movie is not about a patient fighting the illness. It touches upon the sensitive mother-daughter relationship,” says Kanika. The film has been directed by Prince Dhiman and is co-produced by Ankur Ghai.
Excerpts:
Can you tell us about Forever Whim? What attracted you to the film?
A very dear friend of mine was going through the same suffering with her son. So whilst I was talking to her about her son’s illness, I could feel her pain. It was right there! It was quite an emotional journey for me when I was penning it down too. I didn’t put in too much of what she was going through, but just what the focus should be on.
How did you get involved with the project in the first place?
Over the last seven years, I wasn’t getting much creative satisfaction with the work I was doing. So I wanted to explore what more I could do with my talent, branch out myself to new horizons and experiment with different genres and concepts. When I wanted to go ahead with producing this particular project, my husband was the one who gave me all the courage to do so! He told me one thing, ‘passion without any action is no passion’. That is what clicked with me and so I went ahead with what I was passionate about exploring.
Was the film also an attempt to break the image you have created through your daily soap?
This was definitely not to break any image which I had created from my daily soap because I honestly love what I have done in my life. That is who I am! I love the appreciation that I received for my character in the past. Coming to this project, I wanted to do something different for myself, with regard to my acting and writing skills!
You have written the dialogues and screenplay of the film. What kind of creative satisfaction did the production of the film bring you?
I got a lot of creative satisfaction after putting together the film. It gave my life a new meaning. My acting profession has given me a lot of stability to do something challenging and new for myself. Definitely something other than a daily soap.
Will we see you experimenting more with such content?
Yes, I will definitely be experimenting more with such content in the future. I am also eager to help those people who need a platform to showcase their own content, but don’t have one. It makes me feel really good to uplift other people who have big dreams and a vision to fulfill. You rise when you uplift others!
