There is more choice available for female actors on web, says Ashwini Bhave

Ashwini Bhave, who is making a comeback to acting with Voot Select original "The Raikar Case", says unlike films, there is much more character development in web series, especially for female artistes.

Bhave, who made a name for herself in the 1990s with films such as "Sainik" and "Bandhan", is returning to her roots after a gap of 22 years.

She said the OTT platforms are offering great roles to female actors today.

"As the audience is getting savvy and new mediums like digital are available, I think there are more dynamic characters being offered to female (actors).

"If you take a typical Bollywood film, there is a heroine and a mother, there was a limited choice. With web series that in between range is explored and there is far more choice available for female actors, Bhave told PTI in an interview.

The actor, who lives in California, said for her strong and challenging stories were the reason why she travelled to India for work. She, however, believes that stepping into the web zone is not an easy task.

"Every new medium of entertainment, comes with its own set of challenges and rewards and web series is no exception... I was trying to approach my character in The Raikar Case' in the same way I have dealt with all my film characters.

"It posed a challenge for me because the duration of the web series is much longer than a film. If the film is about 120 minutes long, the web series is six to seven episodes, which is three films put together. It is very difficult to keep the entire script in my mind for me to be comfortable.

The show, directed by Aditya Sarpotdar, revolves around Raikar family, who go through an unspeakable tragedy when the youngest son of the family, Tarun Raikar is found dead and the authorities rule out the possibility of a suicide.

The series unveils the secrets of the Raikar family episode by episode.

It was in early 2019, when Bhave received a call from the makers of The Raikar Case and the actor said she initially found the show to be a bit too dark for her taste and comfort level. But the makers convinced her to change her mind.

"I was aware that if I make my comeback in Hindi, then it would be almost after 22 years. I was looking for a character to showcase my talent and stretch myself as an actor.

"The way the screenplay is written, wherein a suspicion shifts from one character to another, was interesting to me. My character has a character arc and actors love this," Bhave added.

The show is full of twists and turns, something that made its shooting both fun and challenging for the actor.

In the pursuit of making an intense experience for the audience, the writers of The Raikar Case' made some alteration not only before the shoot but also while we were on the sets.

"Accommodating those changes and nuances and making them look seamless was a task in itself. All this made it interesting as I was learning and unlearning," Bhave said.