From Silence: Can You Hear It? in 2021 to its sequel Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout, which dropped online this week, Pracchi Desai has featured in four projects in the past three years. That’s a relief for her fans who missed seeing her on screen between 2017 and 2021. Will we see her more often on screen, going forward? That depends, says the actor, certain about only doing projects that strike a chord with her. “I’m not involved in too many projects at the same time. I am at that stage in my career where I want to work on things that speak to me. I don’t want to do the same roles, or fit into a box that people want to put me in. So when a Silence or a Dhootha [2023] is offered, I do it,” she says.

Desai, who started her acting journey with Kasamh Se, graduated to films soon after, starring in Rock On (2008), Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010) and Bol Bachchan (2012). She believes her discerning attitude towards projects has held her in good stead. If the industry labels her choosy, so be it. To her, good work is more important than tags. “I have been acting since I was 17. I realised that over time, good work will find me. In an industry that wants to chase stars, I want to be an actor first. I am not playing a game of fastest finger first. I want meaty roles and good stories. I don’t feel compelled to say yes [to every project that is offered], and filmmakers don’t anticipate a definite yes from me either.”