'Dabba Cartel' actor Shalini Pandey: ‘After meeting her, I became a bigger fan’

Shabana Azmi and Shalini Pandey

Only a week ago, we saw Shalini Pandey as Junaid Khan's naïve fiancée in Maharaj, a period drama set in the 19th century. Now, the actor's next sees her travelling from the past straight into the lives of present-day Thane women. She is among the five women headlining Dabba Cartel, Netflix's upcoming crime thriller. While director Hiten Bhatia has brought together some of the finest actors - Shabana Azmi, Jyotika, Nimisha Sajayan, and Anjali Anand - Pandey doesn't bat an eyelid before admitting that for her, the crime thriller was all about working alongside Azmi.

"My parents are big fans of Shabana ji. After meeting her, I became a bigger fan. She is graceful, especially when you see how she has handled her life. She is someone I have been noticing [on set] and learning from. She was my biggest takeaway from Dabba Cartel," says Pandey, who forayed into Bollywood with Jayeshbhai Jordaar (2022).

Dabba Cartel promises to be a riveting tale of how five ordinary women from their quiet existence in a Thane colony turn to the murky, unpredictable life of the underworld when they decide to sell drugs through tiffin service. Tell her it's a fascinating premise, and she says that it's equal parts comedy and drama. "This was the first time I got to work with so many female actors at one time. Besides [the cast], the crew had a lot of women, and the energy on set was great. We took picnics and had open conversations with women from different age groups. It was a fun learning experience," says the actor of the show that is set to release later this year or in early 2025.