Based on Vikram Seth’s 1993 novel, “A Suitable Boy” revolves around Lata Mehra (Tanya Maniktala) and her mother’s search for a suitable boy for her marriage.
The series started streaming on Netflix from October 23 for the global audience. Not only dedicated readers of the book, rather everyone was eagerly waiting for it.
At the centre of the story is the character of Lata, enacted by the young and vivacious Tanya Maniktala. While there is a lot more going on in the story, Lata almost always finds herself in the thick of things.
In the recently concluded Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2020, Maniktala was chosen as the Rising Star for her role in the series and received critical acclaim for her performance.
Directed by Mira Nair, A Suitable Boy went on to become the first-ever series to be screened as the closing night presentation of TIFF, in the festival’s 45-year history.
Maniktala plays the role of an opinionated student of English at Brahmpur University who is resisting her mother’s attempts to find her a husband. The actress, herself an English Literature graduate from Delhi’s Shivaji College, slips seamlessly into the role of the young and petite 19-year-old Lata Mehra, whose beauty lies in her simplicity, honesty, and humility.
Talking about her journey from a copywriter to a Rising Star, Maniktala said:
“Before becoming an actor, I used to work as a copywriter and I was very happy with it. One day a friend called me and asked me to come for an audition without telling me what it was for.”
“I showed up at the audition and it was for A Suitable Boy, for Lata’s character, and I was shocked. A few days before the audition, my friend and I were talking about the novel and about Lata and Malati’s relationship, because we could relate with it.”
“It was sudden but it was the most memorable audition of my life.”
And just like that, Maniktala bagged the role of the protagonist, Lata. In an interview, she revealed that she got a call from the director herself that she was to play the character.
Being an actor wasn’t a career choice for Maniktala, it is something that just happened. As she mentioned in an interview, being an international star now is more like being in a dream for her.
Before being a part of A Suitable Boy, Maniktala appeared in the web series Flames, which came out with its second season last year.
For a glimpse of Tanya Maniktala as Lata Mehra in A Suitable Boy:
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