Mona Singh explains how she managed to break out of her Jassi image: "I started saying no to 90% of the shows"
Mona Singh has reflected on the role of personal choices and industry opportunities in shaping her career, particularly her decision to move beyond the image she established with her popular television character Jassi. The actor said that while the industry provides opportunities, a significant part of an actor’s career is determined by the choices they make along the way.
Speaking about the balance between external opportunities and her own decisions, Mona said, “I think 40% is the industry. They provide the soil, the script, the platform, and 60% is me. You know, I choose which seeds to plant and, most importantly, which ones to pull out. So, talking about my Jassi era, you see, a lot of things, a lot of decisions were made around me, for me. You know, after Jassi, I had suddenly become the relatable girl next door, you know, the moral compass, the heart. So all the choices that I was being offered were within those four walls.”
Mona, who became widely known for playing Jassi in the television series Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin, said that the character also influenced the kind of roles she was offered afterwards. According to her, the shift in her career came when she became more selective about the projects she took on.
“The real shift happened when I started saying no to 90% of the shows that were being offered to me. So the architecture was choosing to wait for shows like Made in Heaven, for Laal Singh Chaddha, for Bads Of Bollywood, and recently for Kohraa. So the architecture of a career, you know, is rarely a solo project. I feel it's a constant tug of war between the blueprint that you draw and the weather conditions around you,” she added.
Over the years, Mona has worked across television, films and streaming projects. Her credits include 3 Idiots, Laal Singh Chaddha, Made in Heaven and The Ba**ds of Bollywood*, while her recent work includes Kohrra Season 2.
Her comments highlight how choosing which projects to accept can influence the direction of an actor’s career, particularly after being closely associated with a breakthrough role. For Mona, turning down roles that kept her within the same character space became part of her approach to finding different kinds of work.
Also Read: Mona Singh opens up on taking up multiple projects: “There’s a different side, a different shade and a different character altogether”
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