Sonali Bendre returns as India’s Best Draamebaaz judge

Yesteryear actress Sonali Bendre is back on TV—this time as a judge on a kids show, India’s Best Draamebaaz. The actress, who is on a break from acting says that she is enjoying this phase. “Last year I did a fiction show but now I am happy not acting. Acting is fun as I enjoy role-playing. You can be different characters without having to bear consequences of being that person. That’s a great place to be in but it takes a certain amount of time and it is very tedious. For this show I just shoot one day a week.”

Sonali, who is now quite active on Twitter too, shares her apprehensions about the medium and says, “I’m quite technologically challenged and it scares me. But I follow my husband’s advice because he’s crazy about all these things. He keeps telling me, ‘don’t ban it, join it’. I was scared because I’m a private person but I recently joined Twitter and realised that it’s fun.”

Coming back to her show she says, “I never thought I’ll judge, but I came with a certain honestly. When I’m wrong I accept it, I’m only human. What I think, need not be right every time, which is why we have a panel of three judges and not just one.”

Recalling memories from the previous season of the show the actress says, “The earlier season was the first attempt but we were very surprised how good the kids were. They gave some really mature performances, so we had to tread cautiously. This season, the children are so prepared. It’s a bit shocking at times. It’s difficult to judge children. Sometimes kids are more dramatic but such shows make them confident. They are groomed by the best of theatre personalities. But children know how to move on. Parents make elimination a big issue and that’s when it affects kids. ”

Being a mother herself, Sonali gets all excited speaking about her own son Ranveer. “My son likes to watch this show but he isn’t keen on participating. One day he wants to be a Formula One racer, another day a fire-fighter and then a cricketer. It’s a good thing though, because I want him to try out everything,” she adds.