Surveen Chawla became a household name after starring in Netflix originals Sacred Games as Jojo Mascarenhas. She is appreciated for delivering a ‘mysterious’ performance on-screen opposite Ganesh Gaitonde played by Nawazunddin Siddiqui.
The actress recently opened up about playing a grey shade character when she was pregnant. The actress opens up about the internal struggles and challenges she had to face during switching on and off from the nature of JoJo Mascarenhas.
During the time a woman is pregnant, she is asked to stay away from the negativity and only have happy thoughts. The pregnancy comes with many challenges, including morning sickness, mood swings, urgent hunger pangs, etc. The changes that a woman goes through her pregnancy are not physical but mental too.
The super entertaining and talented stars, Jojo (Surveen Chawla), Bunty (Jatin Sarna) and Kusum Devi Yadav (Amruta Subhash) made an appearance on Netflix’s new chat show The Brand New Show. Surveen opened about the challenges she faced while shooting for JOJO and how Anurag Kashyap, who is also her daughter’s Godfather, made her comfortable all the time.
Surveen tells that, ‘There is nothing common between JoJo and me. I was pregnant at that time, so it was a little difficult too because normally you’d want to be happy and away from negativity but Jojo as a character was negative, unforgiving and bitter.”
Surveen went onto explain that JoJo, as a character, was very confusing even for her. She was never clear about what she thinks, and then switching into the negative and dark zone and then switching back to healthy, happy thoughts became difficult for the actress.
Later in the conversation, Surveen further told me that “I got a chance to make out with my husband on screen, and it was cool.” She explained that Anurag, who was the director of the show called his husband and said that your wife is pregnant, so it would be better that she makes out with rather than someone else. She went onto appreciate the director by saying that he’s a great man, and this move was thoughtful. Surveen in appraising her friend-director Anurag Kashyap also mentioned that something like this only happens when Anurag is behind the cameras.
Jojo Mascarenhas was introduced in the first season of Sacred Games when Ganesh shot her and drags her body. The entire plot of why Ganesh shot her and what part did she plays in his life unfolds in the second season through flashback stories. Surveen’s character and acting skills received much positive feedback from everyone in the industry and the audience.
Surveen also opened about up about how she faced postpartum Depression after she gave birth to her daughter in a recent interview. She stated, “Since I am expressive, I could vent. I am not diplomatic and am also lucky to be blessed with a partner who shares everything with me. One shouldn’t have to repress them.” She expressed that Depression can start from a single trigger, but if you ignore or suppress it, it goes onto become a more significant problem. “Throughout my pregnancy, I kept myself in an emotionally sound place. I knew what was going on with the baby and me.”
She explained that when her emotions were not in her place, or she felt that something was not feeling right, she used to practice yoga and cardiovascular activity to keep her mind and emotions balanced. She ate only home-cooked food and didn’t crave any junk food.
The Scared Games actress got married to Akshay Thakker in a secret ceremony in Italy in 2015. They shared the news of them as a married couple later in 2017. This year in April, Surveen announced the birth of her daughter with husband Akshay Thakker in an adorable Instagram post that said, ‘we now have her tiny feet to fill the tiny shoes! Blessed by her wonderful arrival in our little family! Welcoming our daughter Eva!”
Well, more power to you gurl!