Sai Deodhar was seen as Chhaya in Sony TV and Nilanjana Purkayasstha and Herumb Khot’s Invictus T Mediaworks’ show Dabangii – Mulgi Aayi Re Aayi. The actress played mom to the central character Arya and shares that it was the mother-daughter bond that attracted her to the show.

Says Sai, “The mother-daughter equation was very interesting. In the show, the mother and the daughter are together all the time, but then the mother dies due to some unforeseen reasons, and now the daughter’s journey has begun. So for me, playing the mother’s character was different because she was a woman who had a lot of strength inside, but she was very vulnerable on the exterior. The mother-daughter bond was something very special to me, and, I think, that was the key element that attracted me to the show.”

Sai is a mother to a daughter of the same age, and this is why her emotions on-screen were quite real. “I would say that the character was like me. I have a daughter who is almost the same age, so her emotions are quite real. The emotions resonated with me and were very organic because I was able to relate to the mother. I could relate to the fact when your child is being separated from you.”

The show has taken a leap of 14 years and the audience is seeing the grown-up Arya now. Sai feels that it’s the different characterisations that are the strength of the show. Sai states, “Though I didn’t have a very long stint in the show, I had a very author-backed role in it, and it’s got a recall value. So I feel the biggest strength of the show is that it is beautifully created, crafted, has author-backed characters. The strength of the show is the characters that are built.”

“My stint was short but if the production house ever calls me again for another show or for anything that they’re doing, I would be more than happy to come on board. And I look forward to working with them. They’re great people. They’re great human beings,” she adds before ending.