Being an actor is not a bed of roses. From the auditions to the last scene of the show, especially in a daily soap, it involves hours of work, make-up, shoots, and re-shoots. Actor Mohak Matkar, who plays the lead character of Saraswati in the show Saru, shares that she gets resilience from her character.

In recent episodes, the actor had to perform an underwater sequence when the character Anika, played by Anushka Merchande, locked Saru inside a water tank, leaving her trapped and struggling to escape. While the scene is physically draining, Matkar embraced it and prepared herself for the shoot inside the tank. The shoot required multiple takes and stretched across an entire day.

“This was definitely one of the toughest sequences I have performed so far in Saru. The moment I stepped into the tank and felt the water rising around me, it became a completely different challenge from anything I had done before,” shares the actor.

She adds that while the shoot took all day, at every moment they improvised. “I was just going with the flow, allowing me to be more instinctive, while the director guided me with quick instructions. That process gave the scene authenticity because nothing was rehearsed or overly planned. It had a collaborative energy, making it exciting.”

Interestingly, Matkar did not even know how to swim when she performed the stunt. She says she took inspiration from her character’s resilience. “I found it hard, but I reminded myself that Saru has always been a fighter, and I needed to channel that same resilience into my performance,” she explains.

In the upcoming episodes, Matkar will be seen getting into a physical altercation with goons to save a character’s life. The sequence is set to highlight her bravery.

Did you know?

‘Saru’ is Mohak Matkar’s second daily soap after the popular show ‘Hamara Parivar’ (2024). She was also seen in the music video ‘Dard Tere’.