Then read: Amruta Khanvilkar: I can do more than glamorous roles

She added: “When I did action for the first time, it felt very liberating. In a Neeraj Pandey series, a woman does incredible stunts. I am very happy that I got this opportunity. On my first day doing stunts, I punched a stuntman and my whole hand swelled. This happened on the 21st.^street November, two days before my birthday. The injury was so serious that it hurt a lot. At first, I didn’t realize it, but then Emraan sir told everyone. However, having played this role, I feel brave.”

Talking about Space Gen, Amruta said: “With Space Gen, the world was very different. In shows like these, it takes a lot of research to write it. I was lucky enough to be able to read something and learn what pressures scientists really go through.”

On confronting stereotypes in the industry

After decades in the industry, Amruta Khanvilkar has certainly learned the tricks of the trade. While she acknowledges that things are changing, the actress admits that she still sometimes faces stigma. “In all these years, I have realized that one should treat every project as the first and not expect anything. We often feel that a certain project will take us somewhere and turn the tables for us; sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t. Being an artist is just your job; you can’t do it your whole life. Opportunities come and go. I was neck-deep in the promotions of my work, and Taskaree came my way. When things are meant for you, they happen,” Amruta said.

He added, “I still face a certain stigma. I often hear that you are a Marathi actor. So what? I will work somewhere, right? Now I ignore it. They will tell you that you are too exposed or that you come with baggage because you are a TV star. These things are told; it is like the comment about being from the Marathi industry, there is no end to it. Some actors chose to talk about it, I chose to ignore it.”

Despite these lingering prejudices, Amruta feels that the entertainment industry has come a long way. “And I think this generation of actors has become very tolerant. Before, there were so many rules and restrictions, like an artist’s career ends once she gets married, it was believed that if you play a supporting character, you would never be offered a lead role, but that is never the case. Another myth was that if you have done television, you can’t do films. Over time, all these rules have changed. As a female artist, many were often told that if you wanted to be a heroine, you had to have a certain weight. Now times have changed and it is a good time to be an artist or even an influencer,” Amruta said.

Sharing a myth that people often have about her, the Raazi actress added: “A lot of people sometimes think that I am not approachable; the audience is afraid to come and talk to me. I am friendly, but when you achieve stardom at a young age, people want to know things about you, so you have to be careful. I am very selective about who I talk to.”

On the work front, Amruta Khanvilkar will have her work coming soon. Apart from this, he has a few films in the pipeline.