Mohabbatein fame Preeti Jhangiani opens up on comeback with negative role in Kafas: ‘People have judged me’ | Exclusive

The recent SonyLiv series Kafas not only brought Sharman Joshi and Mona Singh together again after a decade (they both appeared in 3 Idiots in 2009) but marked the return of another star from the 2000s to mainstream Hindi entertainment. Preeti Jhangiani of Mohabbatein fame played a supporting role on the show and to many people’s surprise, it was a grey character, quite a departure from the girls next door she played in her first innings. In a chat with DNA, the actress opens up about the response to the show, what compelled her to choose the role, and the road ahead.

Kafas has been Preeti’s first project in Hindi entertainment space after several years and the response to both the show and her performance has been positive. A thrilled Preeti reacts, “The reaction has been absolutely amazing because I didn’t expect to have so many people call and message me. I know people wanted to see me on screen again but the response has been more than I expected.”

Having been away from the limelight for so many years (her last Hindi film released in 2013), Preeti admits she was nervous to put herself out there. She says, “One does feel nervous working after so long. Although, I had been in front of the camera in regional cinema after my last Hindi film and I had been in the public eye, to do a show that was something I hadn’t done before was a bit unnerving. I knew the performance would be judged quite harshly because the transition has been quite big, I feel.”

After her Bollywood debut with Mohabbatein, Preeti played the girl next door in several films, some of which succeeded and many did not. There is a stark difference in tone in Kafas, where she plays the wife of a child abuser who does not want to expose her husband. “For Kafas, I had to be real and somebody who reacts in a more real way. It is much different and darker than anything I have ever done,” says the actress.

When asked what compelled her to choose the role, Preeti says it gave her a chance to silence her critics and naysayers. “I knew that the role would be impactful and it would have an impact whenever the character came on screen. I was aware that it had limited screen time but for me, it was a great chance to prove that I can do this. I think a lot of people have judged me in a lot of ways for not being able to actually act. Doing something like this was me saying ‘I can do this’,” asserts the actress.

The success of Kafas has reinvigorated the actress and she says she is now looking forward for more work. “I am looking forward to do much more to do now, on OTT and even in films. I have a film coming out where I have a much darker character than this one. So, I am quite excited about this,” she says. Kafas stars Sharman Joshi and Mona Singh in the lead roles and is streaming on SonyLiv.