Actress Shalini Panday known for her impactful performance in Gujarati film Rachna No Dabbo is basking in glory for the feedback received for her recently released project- Dwand. Dwand is a short film released on Pocket films- a family drama where Shalini plays the role of a lower-middle-class girl who is bold and has always dreamt big and was made to believe that she is beautiful, intelligent, and different and that she deserves a worthy husband. When her marriage happens contrary to her expectations, she begins to contemplate her decisions and takes certain steps which eventually affect the entire family.

Talking about her character in Dwand, Shalini says, “First time in my acting career I am enjoying being trolled on the internet because these are the same accusations and abuses that society hurls at the progressive women, which is at the core of this film. Playing Ruby was the most challenging character I ever played, very layered, nuanced and multi-dimensional character with lots of mood fluctuations. She grows up with a certain set of beliefs and tries to better her life and there is nothing wrong in that but because of the choices, she makes she faces a lot of criticism. I connected with the thought that you can only decide to follow your dreams, what lies ahead in life as an outcome and not in your hand. And that is the life journey of Ruby in the film. Considering the complexities of the subject and the Director’s conviction on the narrative, I tried to follow his vision completely. It was exciting to work with this team, consisting of people coming from interesting professions. The added challenge was the shooting with lockdown restrictions and it was a new experience altogether being on the set.

I am glad people have connected with Ruby or even if they have not, they have formed an opinion about the character. And as an actor, if I have made that sort of an impact where an opinion has been formed, that according to me is a win for me. I am extremely glad with the response the film received, which assured me that I could do justice with the character.”

The short film directed by Sanjeev Kumar has crossed 12million views on FB and has received mixed reaction across social media, especially for the boldness and stern steps taken by the female lead. Talking about the film, Director Sanjeev Kumar said, “I have always liked the subject/story of the strong female characters from the middle class / lower-middle-class societies. The layer of the lead female character, Ruby in this story and her resolve to follow her dream, without bothering about the opinion of the hypocritical moralistic society. ”

Dwand, directed by Sanjeev Kumar, written by Kapil Sharma, stars Shalini Panday, Ashish Kadian and Abhishek Gupta as lead characters and the music is composed by Pandit Suvir Mishra, a renowned classical musician and a servicing IRS officer