Exclusive: “I must connect to the script and my character,” says Malvi Malhotra

By: Mohnish Singh

After facing a brutal attack by an acquaintance for allegedly turning down his marriage proposal, model-turned-actress Malvi Malhotra is up and doing.

She recently started shooting for her debut streaming show Geisha where she plays a successful actress. Also featuring Aman Verma and Tarun Khanna in important roles, the show is set to premiere on an upcoming digital media platform Digiflix.

Recently, Eastern Eye visited the sets of Geisha at Madh Island in Mumbai and spoke to Malvi Malhotra in detail about her forthcoming show, what attracted her to sign it, her expectations are from the same, the unprecedented growth of digital media platforms over the period of the Coronavirus-induced lockdown, and much more.

You are soon going to be seen as the female lead in Digiflix’s upcoming streaming show Geisha. Tell us something about your character in it?

Talking about my character, I play a girl named Divya Sharma. She is very sweet and bubbly. She is an actress by profession. Like many small-town girls, she also had a dream to make it big in Bollywood and hence, she came to Mumbai. She does become a successful actress but, with time, she faces a downfall. You will be able to see different and interesting shades of the character as the story progresses.

The title of the series sounds quite interesting, what does Geisha mean?

Everyone who hears the title Geisha for the first time finds it unique and fascinating. A lot of people do not know that it is derived from a Japanese word. A title like this for our web-series is surely leaving a lot for the audience to think about.

Can you tell us something about the plotline?

The story revolves around my character Divya Sharma who comes to Mumbai to fulfill her dreams. As I mentioned, she wants to make it big in Bollywood but goes through a lot of struggles and ups-downs. Her ex-boyfriend keeps torturing her. She goes on to develop relationships with many other characters in the series as well, to meet her basic needs. She is forced to go the wrong way. These are some of the plot points around which the story revolves. By the end of it, the series will turn out to be a murder mystery. This is the main attention-grabbing point of the series which the audience will surely love.

What are your expectations from Geisha?

My expectation from Geisha is that the series should be seen by everyone all over the world not only in India. I am repeating myself that the content is very brilliant and such content is very rare in India. So entire India should surely watch this series, and since the title of the show is derived from a Japanese word, the entire world will also find it fascinating.

What was your reaction when you first heard the script?

I still remember when Raj Verma sir came and narrated the story, I felt really excited and happy hearing it. I was looking for such kind of script to debut in web series and as soon as I heard the entire story, I felt it was the right story for me. There are so many actresses who face many struggles while making a career as an actress in Bombay and Geisha will portray some such struggles in a really nice way.

Streaming media platforms are growing by leaps and bounds currently. Digiflix is also one of the newest joining the race. What do you have to say about the upcoming platform?

Streaming media platforms were there before also but nobody valued them as much as they do it today. Especially during the lockdown, I feel the streaming media industry got its real value. During this time people started spending time on these platforms in a big way. Digiflix is an amazing platform as it is launching Digiflix Movies and DigiTok both in one app. I feel with such rich content Digiflix will surely be the No. 1 platform soon. I am very excited to be a part of this platform.

We have seen you on the sets post the brutal attack on you by a stalker, how different it is for you to shoot now?

After that uncertain incident that happened to me last year, this is my first shoot. Being in front of the camera is a very invigorating and nice feeling for me, something that I cannot express in words. I am really thankful to everyone in our Geisha and Digiflix team. It is because of this project I am back on sets and shoot. I get a very positive and happy feeling acting and shooting. I just love working. There are so many people here; we work and enjoy ourselves together. This makes me forget about that incident, bad memories, and my fear completely.

As an actor what is most important to you: the script or the platform?

As an actor, the most important thing for me is the script. I am very choosy when it comes to scripts. Even if the platform is very big and popular but the story and the concept are not nice, then I will not accept it. I must connect to the script and my character. For me, the kick is actually the script. In India, we do not value the writers more which I feel we should because they are a very integral part of the entire creative process.