Medha Shankar is living her dreams

With her role in ‘Shadisthan’ streaming on Disney+Hotstar, Medha hopes to make a mark as an actor

I was a shy and studious person in school; I think my mother’s gene (Her (late) mother Rachna Shankar used to choreograph dances and direct plays for small children in the apartment complex) started to kick in at college,” laughs Medha Shankar who plays Arshi, a 17-year-old to be married off against her wishes in her debut film Shadisthan streaming on Disney+Hotstar. Directed by Raj Singh Chaudhary, Shadisthan tells the story of a singer (Kirti Kulhari) and her band of musicians on a road trip with a conservative couple and their teenage daughter Arshi and the ensuing conflict of ideologies. As a urban Indian middle-class girl, Medha says she could instantly connect to Arshi’s dreams. “Arshi’s pain is deep. She has aspirations of making a name for herself and make her parents proud, but they have other plans. I could relate to her angst and her whole emotional journey through this predicament, which started with fighting her parents, crying, pleading, running away and then finally surrendering to her fate. I could genuinely feel her pain and despair, and glide into her emotional headspace. I wondered what if my parents had done that to me. The movie is entertaining and discusses social issue,” she shares.