Mithila Palkar on breaking stereotypes: ‘I deserve to be seen differently

Internetrsquos favourite girlnextdoor Mithila Palkar wants to take a detour now Having created a niche for herself with sliceoflife and romantic stories like Girl in the City 2016 Little Things 201621 and Karwaan 2018 Palkar now wants to play characters far removed from herself In an interview with mid day the actor currently seen in Disney Hotstar romcom Sweet Dreams shares her aspirations for the next stage of her career that include playing antagonists and why she believes that love stories need to be reimagined for the GenZ audienceEdited excerpts from the interviewWhat kind of prep is required for a film that is driven more by the charm of its actors than the storyI stick to both the director and the writerrsquos vision which in the case of Sweet Dreams was Victor Mukherjee himself Having him take me and Amol Parashar costar through what inspired him to write the story and why he imagined us in these parts I fed off from that Thatrsquos what I usually do for sliceoflife storiesAfter completing over a decade in the industry what are you most hungry forI want to see myself play different roles from what I am All the girls I have played so far are different shades of me but I would be excited to be a part of a psychological thriller or play a negative role I remember when I watched Killing Eve I was so inspired by that show I felt this is what I wanted to doHave you found it difficult to break the trap that the audiencersquos expectations can createI do appreciate the love that I have received through Little Things I am grateful to that show I always say that I donrsquot think a show like this will ever happen for me again because all of us on the show were just starting out We all began from ground zero and that show took us to another level Now whatever we will do next will begin from here Which is why the show will always be special We are obviously not going to start from ground level nowItrsquos also about comfort both for the audience and the actor Some people can get stuck in it same character type because they know the audience will love them like that because of which even the makers start envisioning you similarly In that context I was surprised by the kind of projects that eventually came my way after Little Things I do deserve to do other things I do deserve to be seen differently but unless the makers dare to dream I canrsquot do much Or then Irsquoll have to produce something myself But I am too new on the scene to try that But I am grateful to all the writers and directors who offered me different roles because stereotyping happens Therersquos no escaping it You have seen Little Things so many times that you think Mithila is Kavya and thatrsquos what you want to see again and again But unless you show something different to the audience how will they know that you can be something else tooYou have headlined a few popular romances Sweet Dreams being the latest one But a dearth of love stories is felt on the big screen as well as OTT Why do you think therersquos a gapYoungsters should write young stories Romance on paper has to change according to how itrsquos changing with generations Even though millennials and GenZ are just a generation apart we think differently from each other I feel this about myself I want to sit with a GenZ person and understand their ways I feel that many times I sit on a high horse like the generation before us did and say lsquoHumare zamane mein aisa hota tharsquo But thatrsquos not how it works You wonrsquot be accepted by the audience if they canrsquot relate to you I feel we should keep experimenting as artistes because the audience is intelligent and adaptive in a sense that they will want to see different things if you offer them something different So even for romance therersquos no point reiterating what we have seen Itrsquos nice to have a fresh perspective To revisit films we watched 20 years ago is going back to your comfort zone