INTERVIEW | Rajshri Deshpande: 'I Would Rather Earn Respect On Set Than Trending Online'
Rajshri Deshpande says the struggle wasn’t just getting work, but finding roles that didn’t ask her to split her soul into parts for visibility.
By Minal Rudra
Published : August 6, 2025 at 4:56 PM IST
|Updated : August 6, 2025 at 5:07 PM IST
From Sacred Games to Satyashodhak, Rajshri Deshpande has consistently chosen characters that strike a deep chord with audiences. Whether playing a homosexual police inspector in The Fame Game, essaying Subhadra in Sacred Games, bringing a rebellious writer like Ismat Chughtai alive in Manto, or lending emotional depth to a grieving mother like Neelam Krishnamoorthy and essaying a reformer like Savitribai Phule with authenticity. What she brings to every role is nuance and grit. Even in Rangeen, where she plays Naina, a woman society might label as the one who strays, she refuses to offer easy answers.
In a tête-à-tête with ETV Bharat, the Asian Academy Creative Award winner opens up about choosing roles with conscience, resisting industry pressure and beauty standards, and why she believes emotional honesty, and not visibility, is what has helped her stay afloat in the cut-throat world of cinema.
This rootedness shows in the characters she brings to life on screen. “I think I am playing aspects of life on screen,” she says. “As an artist, I feel I need to belong to every colour of our society. So I’m glad I get to portray different women. It feels great that people are writing such characters... women like Ismat Chughtai, Neelam Krishnamoorthy, even Naina from Rangeen. These women exist in our world. They carry anger, joy, sorrow, resistance. I’m not playing a fantasy character. I’m that woman you see next door, someone you can relate to and maybe even recognise in your own life.”
She comes from a humble farming family in Aurangabad, and it's no surprise that her performances feel so lived-in. “The emotional bank we draw from as artists, we have to build it ourselves. It doesn't happen just through training but by staying connected to people,” she says. “I work with farmers, with marginalised communities, with children and women. That gives me a deeper responsibility of portraying society truthfully on screen. And because I’ve seen so much of real life up close, I carry that with me. The more I receive from people, the more I can give back through performance.”
When she played figures like Ismat Chughtai, Savitribai Phule and Neelam Krishnamoorthy, all strong women rooted in their time and context, she paid close attention to the emotional language of each.
“Even if they’re all reformers in their own ways, they are completely different women. Their way of thinking, dressing, reacting, and even how they express rage or kindness... it’s all distinct. As an actor, I have to understand the school of thought they come from. I can’t mix them up. The real challenge is to prepare so well that people forget it’s Rajshri on screen.”
Still, no matter how distinct her characters are, the industry often tries to fit actors into neat categories. She knows that all too well.
“Yes, typecasting happens,” she says. “Both the industry and the audience need to evolve. Things are changing, but slowly. When something and someone works, people tend to repeat it. After Sacred Games, everyone wanted to cast me in similar roles. After Trial By Fire, people thought I was actually in my 60s. It takes time for others to see you beyond one image. But I’ve been lucky to work with creators who trust my process.”
But some creators, she says, do see her for who she is. She recalls how Vikramaditya Motwane cast her in Black Warrant based on performance, not perception. “And in Rangeen too, Amir Rizvi and Amardeep Galsin cast me not for visibility, but because they believed I could live Naina's emotional journey truthfully,” she says. “That belief means everything.”
That’s also why she’s careful about what she signs. “Especially with series, it’s a huge emotional investment. You’re carrying a character through eight or nine episodes. That’s like making four films. So I say no to many things. I prefer to give my full self to one role, instead of juggling five different energies. If I’m playing Neelam or Naina, I want to stay in their skin. I can’t treat it like just another job.”
Her choices are supported by how she lives. “I’m a very minimalistic person,” she says. “I don’t have huge expenses. I don’t go to ten events a month, I don’t spend on costumes, makeup, or PR. People think you need that for visibility, but I believe creators are looking for someone who can actually deliver, not just someone who looks good on Instagram. I don’t want to lose the process of acting just because I’m not famous on a reel. I’d rather earn respect on set than be trending online.”
Rajshri also walks her own path when it comes to the social media game. A quick scroll through her Instagram reveals a woman straddling two worlds: acting and social work. These rarely come together. One moment, she is slaying in a black monokini. The next, she is in rural Maharashtra, wearing a salwar kameez and surrounded by farmers. For her, that world is her true home.
She manages her social media herself and likes to keep it as unfiltered as possible. “I write all my posts. I respond to people. Even the work I do in the village... it’s all there. It’s not a business to me. It’s just how I live,” she says.
Though she often plays strong women on screen, Rajshri admits that when the camera turns off, reality hits hard. Inequality still runs deep on sets, just as it does in real life. “I wish we had true equality. It’s still a male-dominated system. The number of well-written male characters far outweighs those written for women. Even in terms of money, respect, or basic treatment... we’re not there yet... long way to go. I hope that changes. I hope we bring more empathy to the set.”
She has said no to projects not because the script was bad but because of what it could say socially. "I love complexity in a character and I don’t need a ‘good woman’ role. But there has to be honesty in the writing. Something that challenges me not just as an actor, but as a human being too."
Rajshri has never shied away from portraying intimacy on screen, but she insists on intention. “Intimacy is important in storytelling but how it’s written, choreographed, even which lens is used, all of that matters. In Rangeen, intimacy was part of Naina’s life. It wasn’t thrown in for effect. And intimacy doesn’t only mean sex. It can be two people sitting together, just looking at each other with tenderness. That is also intimacy... and a profound one and that is what Naina in Rnageen is may be looking for."
For Rajshri, vulnerability is not weakness. “We live in a society where everyone has an opinion on how women should live. But every woman is different. Our upbringing, our silence, our reactions... it’s all shaped by our environment. Vulnerability, when shown on screen without shame, becomes resistance.”
She says working with fine actors like Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vineet Singh and Abhay Deol has helped her grow. “Every actor has his or her own rhythm, and you learn how to find your space within theirs. Respect for each other’s craft is what makes collaboration beautiful.”
She’s equally grateful for her collaborations with directors like Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Pan Nalin, Prashant Nair, Randeep Jha, Shonali Bose, and more. “Reema and Zoya (Akhtar) gave me so much love after Trial By Fire. They told me it was some of the best work they’d seen in years. Anurag, too, understands the artist’s process deeply. If he calls me tomorrow, I’ll say yes without thinking because I trust his vision.”
Working with Mani Ratnam on Thug Life was a dream, even if brief. “Just observing him was a masterclass. The way he frames a shot, communicates with actors...with DOP...it’s all magical. I was like a child in a candy shop,” she says.
Despite everything, it hasn’t been an easy ride. She has had her fair share of rejection. “I’ve been in the industry 12-13 years. I have only a handful of projects. But every one of them has travelled to festivals and to hearts too. The love has always come.”
Rajshri says she is not in the race and has never chased fame for its own sake. “I’ve been told to go to more parties, do more PR, leave social work, focus on acting. But I pay no heed. I’ll do what I believe in. I will continue to build schools and work in villages, and that gives me far more meaning than any red carpet.”
Asked if there’s any project she regrets not doing, she shakes her head. “I would love to play many more layered roles. Some never came to me. But the ones that did, they came with conviction. When a creator says, ‘It has to be Rajshri,’ that makes everything worth it. I just hope more of these stories come my way, with equal pay and dignity. And I really hope the industry starts seeing women’s stories not as niche, but as necessary,” she concludes.
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