Mahima Makwana opens up on facing politics in film industry: ‘The way people make you…’

Mahima Makwana, who started her journey with television, is now making her mark in Bollywood. The actress, who starred alongside Emraan Hashmi in Karan Johar’s web show Showtime, recently spoke about facing “politics” and classism in the film industry and shared how factors like money, power, and control are often valued more than a person’s character.

In a conversation with News18, Mahima Makwana revealed if she had ever faced politics in the film industry and said, "I have faced politics. I have faced things that were a bit unfair. You don’t even know why you’re being replaced. You don’t even know why you’re being treated a certain way. But I think eventually it is the work that does the talking and needs to speak for you. Because see, you can’t change how people treat you, but you can only change how you detach yourself from what they think of you. In our industry, people treat each other on a very superficial level. Money, power, and control are more important than the kind of person you are. And I think it’s something that I have realized as I’m growing up.”

She further added that though this has affected her on several levels, she continues to give her 100% and said, "Even now, there are days when I get heartbroken. Obviously, as an actor, you’re being selfish. You’re like, ‘I could have probably done that part better’ or ‘I didn’t even know about that particular opportunity’. So yeah, the way sometimes actors are treated, the way sometimes I am treated as for hierarchy, the way people make you feel unimportant and some sort of an indifferent behaviour, it does make you question a lot of things. It does make you doubt yourself, but you just have to be patient, keep your head down, and do whatever you can is in your control. I’m not saying that I have made peace with it. I’m not saying that I have developed a thick skin, but it is something that you deal with when things happen to you.”

Mahima Makwana started her journey with TV shows like Miley Jab Hum Tum and Balika Vadhu as a child artist and later gained popularity with the show Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke. She made her Bollywood debut alongside Salman Khan's brother-in-law Aayush Sharma in the movie Antim, which was backed by Salman Khan and is now winning hearts with her performance in the series Showtime. 

Helmed by Mihir Desai and Archit Kumar, Showtime is a series that delves into the world of Bollywood, production houses and how they function. Features the power struggles and off-camera fights occurring in the backstage areas of Bollywood. The show stars Emraan Hashmi, Mouni Roy, Shriya Saran, and Rajeev Khandelwal apart from Mahima Makwana in key roles and is available to watch on Disney+ Hotstar.

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