What makes Prajakta Koli aka Mostly Sane, stand out in a sea of digital influencers is her unyielding authenticity and relatable girl-next-door charm, and in the last few years she has redefined the boundaries of digital stardom. She made her Bollywood debut last year in Karan Johar’s Jugjugg Jeeyo and has acted in Neeyat, Khayali Pulao, Yeh Shaadi Nahi Ho Sakti. She will soon be seen in Amazon Prime Video’s new show Andhera with Vatsal Sheth.
Her biggest hit, Netflix’s Mismatched that tells the story of Dimple and Rishi, is all set to be back this year with the highly anticipated third season. She spoke, from the set, about this and more to Moneycontrol. Edited excerpts:
Mismatched has been phenomenal. How similar or different are you in real life to Dimple? Have your parents watched the show?
There are sides of Dimple that I really relate with, bits of her that I aspire to become, and then there are also sides of her that kind of make me question who she is. So it’s a whole lot of that. For example, she knows what she wants to do in life. She is hellbent on doing things her way. She is stubborn and I kind of relate to that a little bit. But at the same time she doesn’t give enough chances to people, her reactions and actions are usually not thought through; to problems or situations which I sometimes question. At the same time she is so adorable and so flawed and she wears all her flaws on her sleeve, and I really look up to that. My parents have watched it since the first season and they loved the show. They are amongst all of the fans who have been waiting for season three. They have been very supportive.
In Mismatched Season 3 how far has Dimple Ahuja come from the girl she was in season 1. What do you feel about her character development over the series?
I feel it’s too early to talk about it because we are still shooting. There’s been a little bit of a time jump that has happened, so obviously life has changed for her in many ways! All I can say is that this is the most I have felt for Dimple. This is the closest I have felt to her in all these three seasons.
Your latest venture ‘She Creates Change’, tell us all about it.
She Creates Change is a film about girl education and climate action, overall ownership Room To Read (a nonprofit organisation for children's literacy and girls' education programs) has made. I am very happy to have been working for Room To Read for a couple of years now. I just feel sad that we didn’t start working earlier because they are doing phenomenal work and I am so happy that this film is being received so well and getting the recognition and the exposure it rightfully deserves.
What do you love the most about the Hindi film industry?
Let’s call it the content-creation industry. Let’s be serious at this point; it’s no more just films or OTT or TV or YouTube or radio. It has become one whole pool of content. Our audience is sitting at the top and choosing what to watch. The industry is user dominated. What I love the most right now is that there are a lot of diverse stories. We have stories coming in from different parts of our country, different ages, different genders, that we have more gender mixed writing rooms. We have a lot of other genders who are working in the writing space and their stories are getting told which makes me very happy. In general, I love that we are at a time when the audience is so conscious about what they are watching and they are making an effort to make very thoughtful decisions. It is challenging but also more fun to create content. So I love that about our industry right now.
From a YouTuber to OTT to films to voice overs - what has been the most striking part of your journey so far? What has been your learning experience, your biggest takeaways in these last few years ?
I think it is just the discomfort of it that has been quite enjoyable for me honestly. I never thought that I would ever be able to step out of my universe of making YouTube videos into actually acting for a Netflix show or for Prime Video show or voicing for Audibles for SheCreatesChange or doing a short film like Khayali Pulao or hosting a comedy show. I just feel that the diversity of it all came with a lot of discomfort and I had not expected for it to be this enjoyable. So that has definitely been a high.
You come across as relatable, fun and most importantly, real. Life isn’t easy for such people sometimes. What have been the biggest challenges you have faced in your life as a YouTuber and as an actor?
As a YouTuber, I feel that content blocks have always been there and have been a huge challenge. I remember the first time it happened I thought it was all over. I thought that it doesn’t get better, and I have to switch careers and I have to think of something else to do in life. But eventually, the more I stayed at it, the more I realised that it is as much a part and parcel of your creation journey as views are or as subscribers are or comments are. And I kind of made my peace with it. As an actor, I had expected, and this could make me sound not being real, but I genuinely expected a lot of obstacles to come my way but to think I have just been blessed with the most amazing directors and the most amazing writers where everything was made so easy for me on a set. If you speak about Mismatched, it has been my school for almost five years now. It was my first ever film set and I am literally still shooting it. As we speak I am doing season three of the show. It’s been my school, it’s been where I go back to learn again and get better, make mistakes, learn from them. Akarsh (Khurana) has been one of the most important influences in my life, professionally as well as personally. He has been this very strong and anchoring figure in my life that has helped me with a direction and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to learn or better things that I do on set. For me, I think it’s just that even with Raj (Raj Mehta, director) for Jugg Jugg Jiyo or Tarun Sir (Tarun Dudeja, writer-director) for Khayali Pulao or Raghav Sir for another show that I have done. I feel that I have been blessed with the right people who are in the writing team and direction team. Even in the photography team. In general I have just been blessed, whatever little time I have spent as an actor I have just been around the right people who have kind of been instrumental in helping me grow every single day I have been on set.
You and Vrishank Khanal got engaged last year. What are the wedding plans? Any dates set?
None yet. (Smiles)
What kind of a wedding would you want - a designer wedding or a simple, sane intimate one?
I don’t know yet! (Smiles). And, I would like to not speak about it.
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