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

Shalini Pandey on working with Shabana Azmi in her upcoming crime thriller, Dabba Cartel

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. 

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