I was intrigued that they wanted me, and I thought, what is it that they are seeing in me that I am not seeing in myself? At that point I was bang in the middle of helping my father with Sadak 2. After a more than 20-year break from acting, I got an email asking if I wanted to be part of this show set in world of finance, helmed by Alankrita. Since shooting for Zakhm, I have been making films but not acting in them. Pooja, what made you agree to playing the boss woman Rani in ‘Bombay Begums’? In a phone interview, Bhatt and Shrivastava spoke about comebacks and the begums and their journeys. She was last seen in the 2001 film Everybody Says I’m Fine. Pooja Bhatt, who plays the banker Rani, returns to acting after 20 years. The ensemble cast includes Shahana Goswami, Amruta Subhash, Plabita Borthakur, Aadhya Anand, Rahul Bose, Vivek Gomber and Danish Husain.
Shrivastava’s six-part series, which will be launched on Netflix on March 8, follows five women whose lives interlock in Mumbai. Bombay Begums explores ambition, a working woman’s efforts to maintain a work-life balance, and her complex relationships with men, women, colleagues, bosses, children and her own body.