‘I didn’t have work for two years’: Amruta Khanvilkar

After playing a demure and sweet Munira in Meghna Gulzar’s Raazi, Amruta Khanvilkar can now be seen as a serial killer, Lovina, in the web series Damaged. However, she sheepishly admits that being versatile wasn’t a planned move. “I shot for the series over a year ago. The next thing I knew, the OTT platform was launching their originals with it,” the actress laughs, “Many times, things don’t work out. But this year, a lot of them have,” she says, alluding to these two projects and her upcoming film, Satyameva Jayate.

TAPPING INTO HER DARK SIDE

Amruta found her sinister character in Damaged unrealistic. Her husband and actor Himmanshoo A Malhotra (Love Marriage Ya Arranged Marriage), though, loved her portrayal as a seductress and murderer. “It wasn’t too much of a problem because I refused to do graphic or kissing scenes since this was my debut web series and it was the first time I was working with the team. I had to be sure that the bold scenes were relevant and well-defined,” she says. Amruta tapped into her evil side to make the character look convincing and for that, she recalled the period of struggle in her career. “Thinking about the phase brought out all the dark emotions in me,” she states.

THE TURNING POINT

Amruta says that Raazi has changed the way she is perceived as a performer. “We had a success party after the release of the film and when Karan Johar took my name on the stage, my heart just stopped,” she smiles. “I don’t know if it will lead to meatier roles, but the film has opened up my mind as an actor,” the anchor of Dance India Dance Season 6 adds. Her next big-screen outing is Satyameva Jayate. “I play Manoj Bajpayee’s wife, who’s bubbly and always pulling his leg. She also guides him whenever needed,” she informs. Post that, Amruta has a few more projects to look forward to. “I should be able to talk about them in two months,” she says.

WAITING FOR GOOD WORK

The Katyar Kaljat Ghusli actress says that she has no qualms about waiting for projects that will be worth her while. “I would never take up an offer just because I don’t have anything,” Amruta tells us adding that though being without work gets frustrating, she’d rather bide her time. “After Katyar, I didn’t have work for two years even though I got a good response for my role. I started wondering what I was doing wrong,” she recalls, “I even called up film-makers and went for auditions again.” But the thought of giving up didn’t occur to her. “Acting is the only thing I know to do,” Amruta says.

WORK EVERYWHERE

If good work doesn’t come her way in Bollywood, she says that she has the Marathi film industry to fall back on. “I’ve been busy for the last one-and-a-half years, so I couldn’t do films in my mother tongue,” she says. “Also, many filmmakers think since I now work in Bollywood, I wouldn’t do their movies. But I want to work everywhere I can,” Amruta signs off.