All eyes on Sharvari

A ₹130-crore blockbuster, unequivocal acclaim for two other films, and an upcoming release with Alia Bhatt as co-star— here is the girl Bollywood can’t get enough of

-  NAMRATA ZAKARIA

They say if you want to make god laugh, tell him your plans. Rising star Sharvari Wagh knew she wanted to be an actor, but had no idea what was in store for her.

Especially in 2024, when Sharvari (she only goes by her first name professionally) surprised herself as well as moviegoers with three films in three months. An unprecedented and unexpected bonanza.

Sharvari was barely a known name when she starred in 2021’s forgettable Bunty Aur Babli 2, along with Rani Mukerji, Saif Ali Khan and Siddhant Chaturvedi. She had starred in a web show earlier—Kabir Khan’s The Forgotten Army – Aazaadi Ke Liye—and then disappeared into oblivion for three years, only to be back with one acclaimed film after another.

Munjya, released in June, was a delightful horror comedy, a folk tale about a child demon looking for his childhood sweetheart. On discovering she was now a toothless old lady, he decided to fall in love with her granddaughter instead. Next up was Maharaj, a Netflix release and a Yash Raj production. The film revolved around a real-life court case against a priest who demanded sexual favours, and a budding, self-righteous lawyer. And finally, this year’s big Independence Day release, Vedaa, saw Sharvari play a young dalit village belle who had to learn boxing in order to survive. All the films have received acclaim and Sharvari has been widely and unequivocally praised.

“I have just kept my head down and worked hard, but 2024 has turned out to be a blessed year,” Sharvari tells me, sitting pretty in her home turf, Yash Raj Films in Mumbai. “The films’ release dates had no one’s hand; it just worked out like that.”

Maddock Films, Dinesh Vijan’s production house that made Munjya, is known for its horror comedies, starting with Stree (0180 crore) in 2018, and this year’s biggest blockbuster Stree 2 (₹616 crore and counting).