After establishing herself as a powerhouse performer on Indian television—debuting in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saraswatichandra and winning hearts globally in many shows, her last being Pandya Store—Shiny Doshi is refusing to stay boxed in. The actress, who made a bold and refreshing comeback, stepping into the digital ecosystem with the YouTube series titled Ishk Dum aur Idli Rasam, is happy with her choice.
Following the massive success of Pandya Store, Shiny chose to step back intentionally rather than rushing into the next available project. “Post Pandya Store, I was waiting for the role I wanted. It is very important for me to be excited to go to my workplace. That feeling matters to me. I need to be creatively happy in a project. That creative satisfaction pushed me towards the digital medium. After my last show, I cautiously took a break as I wanted to make a comeback with a kind of show that resonates with me. I waited for the right project.”
YouTube is a very big platform in itself. If good content happens on YouTube, there are takers.
That patience paid off when she encountered the script for Ishk Dum aur Idli Rasam, a project that offered the exact flavour of drama she had been yearning to explore. “The story of Ishk Dum aur Idli Rasam was very good. I always wanted to do a passionate love story. It was intense, something that I wanted to play. We tried to keep it as much as possible in the real space.”
Beyond the character work, the digital format brought its own set of structural shifts. Shiny is happy with the overall experience. “The shooting patterns were different. The team was new. This was a show for the YouTube platform. It was an amazing learning set for me. Abhishek is a nice, grounded guy. We had the same energy on set. It was easy to work with him.”
While premium OTT giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime dominate mainstream digital headlines, Shiny strongly advocates for YouTube’s massive, democratic reach in India’s evolving entertainment landscape. “I would say that YouTube is a very big platform in itself. If good content happens on YouTube, there are takers. There are a lot of Pakistani dramas that are already popular on YouTube. I feel the platform will have good content in India too. We have to make it happen.”
Ishk Dum aur Idli Rasam marked the beginning of a larger trajectory for the actress, who views this digital debut with the same reverence as her television roots. “My firsts have always been special. My first on TV was special. And this one has also been satisfying. I am not putting myself in a box. I want to be exploring the space more. I want to see how my journey on OTT unfolds ahead. I know that I have made my mark in television. I am looking forward to exploring more of OTT platforms and shows.”
