Sharvari has nothing to hide

She doesn’t tell stories about rebellion. There’s no gritty backstory, no watershed moment. Instead, she talks about her mother’s puran poli. “Every time I have it, I feel like she’s gotten even better at making it,” she grins. It’s a specific kind of love measured not in hugs or pep talks, but in ghee ratios and jaggery levels. I nod, thinking of the foods that mothered me when people couldn’t.

Bollywood (and society) tends to sort women into neat binaries—high-glamour sirens on one end, reliably grounded heroines on the other. It leaves little room for ambiguity, for someone to wake up and get an eyebrow piercing or chop their hair into a bob without first checking if the audience will approve. Palatability often feels less like a choice and more like career insurance. Sharvari fits effortlessly into this agreeable, approachable mould, but it begs the question: What if she wanted to shift registers when she’s built her identity around being easy to like? For now, her experimental side finds representation in her oeuvre, already spanning comedy, drama, horror and action. Maybe we’ll get a pink-haired Sharvari soon—on our screens at least.

I tell her about my secret hobby: mentally collecting interesting names. I mention that ‘Sharvari’ has a satisfying mouthfeel. She responds without missing a beat. “For me, it’s memes. I doomscroll all the time. I’ve got different friend groups I send different memes to—Marathi ones, work-related ones, family stuff. I love it.”

Fame has a way of folding people into their own reflection, but Sharvari seems determined not to lose herself in the process. She speaks thoughtfully about the risk of mistaking perception for identity. “If I wake up feeling low, I let myself feel it. I don’t force confidence or try to look a certain way every single day. I push myself hard at work, but the rest of the time, I try to be gentle with myself.”

Five years ago, she thought she had to plan everything. Now she knows she doesn’t. Five years from now, she hopes she still has her sense of humour. And I wonder if the real skill isn’t just showing up, but showing up like this. Thoughtfully, warmly, without visible calculation. It’s hard to resist and harder still to dismiss. “Whether it’s work, friendships or collaborations, I put a lot of love and care into what I do,” Sharvari tells me. And somehow, despite every cynical instinct, I find myself believing her.

Credits:
Head of Editorial Content: Rochelle Pinto
Photographer: Sarang Gupta
Videographer: Shiv Khandelvwal
Stylist: Ruhani Singh
Hair: Aanchal Morwani, Agency: Versis Entertainment
Makeup: Riddhima Sharma, Agency: Entourage Talents
Bookings Editor: Aliza Fatma
Sr. Designer: Shagun Jangid
Entertainment Director: Megha Mehta
Senior Entertainment Editor (Consultant): Rebecca Gonsalves
Production: CutLoose Productions
Assisted by: Garvika Khanna (Styling); Sahil Pupala (Hair); Anna Mehta (Bookings)

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