Mona Singh: Got many opportunities because of 'Laal Singh Chaddha' | Exclusive

Mumbai,UPDATED: Jun 7, 2024 20:17 IST

Mona Singh, who played a key role in ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ with Aamir Khan, credited the film for helping her get quality roles. After dedicating a massive chunk of her career to daily soaps, Mona has significantly shifted focus to films and OTT shows. She, now, aspires to do roles that challenge her potential as an actor. She is currently seen in ‘Munjya’, starring Sharvari Wagh.

During the promotions of ‘Munjya’, Mona spoke about the most gratifying part of being an actor. She told us, “When you’re able to resonate with people, when people look up to you for the character that you play, I got that first validation while playing Jassi. Later, when ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ came out on OTT, a lot of people reached out to me and said during Covid we lost our parents and we related and felt the same as what you portrayed as a mother and that was really overwhelming for me. A lot of women again reached out to me after ‘Made in Heaven’, especially those who have been through domestic abuse. That is the biggest gratification as an actor for me that people begin to resonate with you as to what you’re portraying.”

Mona Singh shared her thoughts on whether she felt an actor’s craft is dependent on box office success, “Well, I will give you the best example for this - right now, all the work that I’ve been doing for the last two years, since 2022, is because of ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’. The movie didn’t get great box office numbers but I got great shows because of that film.”

“According to me, an actor’s talent never goes to waste. It always gets noticed. The film in theatres didn’t do well but when it came on OTT, it blew out of proportion and that is the time when people got to see the different types of roles I was doing which got me different opportunities and people were willing to explore varied roles with me. I got many opportunities because of that. Hence, personally for me, I don’t think box office changes your career graph. Box office surely gives you more popularity, makes your reach more massive but your talent never goes wasted.”

Speaking of how she actively worked on her career choices to carve a niche for herself, Mona shared, “My biggest fear after Jassi was about what am I going to do next. The one thing I knew for sure was that I couldn’t have jumped into another daily soap because everything would be compared to Jassi because the show was such a massive hit.”

She continued, “Hence, I decided to take a break from TV serials. Back then, there was nobody to guide me from the industry. Whatever I am today; I am on my own. So, that phase for me was pretty tricky and I was a little scared about my next choice. That was the time when I started hosting shows and even participating in some of those and it was then when I started to realise that as an actor, it is very important to keep trying different things irrespective of whether you fail or succeed.”

She further added, “It was very easy to fall for the rigmarole of saas bahu sagas because of the money but I was sure I didn’t want to do that because I was very clear that I don’t wish to walk the conventional path and carve my own niche. In 2014, there was a time when I thought to myself that I have done everything on TV which is why I decided to take a break and moved to theatre. Of course, there’s not much money there but you definitely get to learn a lot about yourself as an actor.”

The actor plays a key role in ‘Munjya’ starring Sharvari Wagh.