Manasi Parekh on Chumbak success: ‘I’m riding the excitement wave like the audience’

Boliye boliyerdquo is what we kept telling Manasi Parekh much like her character Priyanka in Netflixrsquos Chumbak when we sat down for a chat While the actor has been making waves in Gujarati cinema it was refreshing to see her in her element in the comedy series that returns with eight new episodes on October 1 Parekh discusses with midday how the series tackles contemporary issues in Indian families with humour why comedy is tougher than serious cinema and what lies ahead for her production houseExcerpts from the interviewDo you feel the audience has been eagerly waiting for the second part of the Chumbak series to drop onlinePeople are loving my character and the show and canrsquot wait to watch more As an artiste one always wishes that audiences want to watch more of you and the work you do So itrsquos exciting especially since the episodes have a lot of twists and turns I wasnrsquot exactly aware of their release plan so I think Irsquom also riding the excitement wave like the audiencelsquoKutch ExpressrsquoWhat appealed to you about the world of ChumbakI think Aatish Kapadia is a contemporary creator and writer His characters and the situations he writes are always progressive My character Priyankarsquos children are autonomous and independent They voice their thoughts their disdain for their motherrsquos constant nagging and what they want They are not scared of the repercussions of their honesty But how does one regulate parenting in the age of social media How does one make children realise the value of studies when itrsquos so easy to get caught up by fame on social media These relevant topics are handled in a funny light but pertinent way I credit Aatish bhai for capturing the essence of an Indian family with two growing childrenAfter winning the National Film Award for Kutch Express in 2024 did you feel people expected you to do more serious rolesAfter the National Award win people normally assume that one has to do serious cinema or serious roles But doing comedy is more challenging than anything When Aatish and JD bhai Jamnadas Majethia creator were narrating the character to me I was like lsquoOh my God this is completely different from whatever Irsquove donersquo My character has this stream of thoughts that keeps her talking without even realising therersquos another person in front of her Irsquom so glad that I got to play a character like PriyankaA still from lsquoChumbakrsquo PicsBy Special Arrangement InstagramDo you see your production house going beyond Gujarati cinemaParthiv Gohil husband coproducer and I decided to get into Gujarati cinema as producers because itrsquos our mother tongue The industry had a lot of potential This was seven years ago Over the last seven years after producing six films we have seen the industry grow exponentially We also believe that this is the time when boundaries and languages donrsquot matter only content does We want to produce more Gujarati films and take them to international markets But we also want to produce international cinema in English as we announced at the Venice International Film Festival so it can reach more people We are working on some incredible scripts right now in English We truly believe that this is the right time to set foot in English and other languages apart from GujaratiDid you knowParekh started out as a singer not an actor She was trained in Hindustani classical music and later won lsquoStar Ya Rockstarrsquo in 2011On Surviving the Nepal floodsManasi Parekh says the KailashMansarovar journey followed by the Nepal floods gave her a fresh perspective on life ldquoWe are all held by just a thread and that thread could snap any minute any second I came back an absolutely changed person I realised that nothing is more important than your close loved onesrdquo