It's a matter of great honour for me to play Bhawanibai, says actress Hetal Yadav

I play the character of Bhawanibai, Kashi's biological mother who is the leading lady of the family and very strong-headed. Hailing from a Saukar family, Bhawanibai holds the last and final call over household matter. Whilst being a woman of great grit and power, Bhawanibai has a special place in the heart for her daughter Kashi and is over-protective towards her as Kashi is the youngest and the only girl child of the family.

It's the first time I am playing a role of a Marathi Brahmin woman. Even though I was born and brought up in Mumbai having learnt Marathi as a subject, the dialect/accent of a traditional Marathi woman is very different compared to what is spoken today. To perfect the mannerism and grasp the right pronunciation of the language spoken then, the production team provided us with a language coach who constantly kept a check. Our producer Smriti Shinde showed us videos on Brahmin women of those days to perfect the body language from their style of walking, sitting, holding their pallus, etc. It's a matter of great honour for me to play this part and knew I had to push myself outside of my comfort zone.

Bhawanibai is the total opposite of what Hetal Yadav is in real life. I am more outgoing, chirpy and my decibel, in general, is loud as compared to Bhawanibai who is calm, poised and composed. To get into that character and control my body language was my biggest challenge. As Bhawanibai, I had to make sure I sound firm, not loud and keep my body movement in control.