Basking in the success of Four More Shots 1, Bollywood’s new ‘it girl’ Sayani Gupta is all set for the second season of Amazon Prime’s show. The show, created by Rangita Pritish Nandy, features Sayani along with Kirti Kulhari, Maanvi Gagroo, and Bani J as a quartet of friends and follows their relationships, work-life conflicts, ambitions and anxieties in a male-dominated society.

Four More Shots Please 2 continues to explore the exhilarating choices that these four young women make as they navigate their friendship, life, love, ambition and evolving freedoms in Millenial Mumbai as their lives and the city changes.

As we talk to Sayani, she confidently tells PeepingMoon, she is awaiting a positive response from the second season as well due to its ‘faithful fan following’.

Excerpts from the interview:

Did you expect so much love for Four More Shots Please?

Not really. Amazon had seen it and they were pretty sure that the show will be a hit. They kept saying that it will be massive and they were very optimistic. But as actors, we don't think about the show's or the film's success while we are doing it. At least, I don't. But once we start promoting it, we have to say nice things about it. But then we were all taken aback by the volume of love we received. It has a different kind of craze. It has a very high pitched kind of fandom. Inside Edge's first season had also done very well but this was something different.

Did shooting two seasons with Bini, Kirti, and Maanvi cement your real-life friendship too?

The friendship shown in the show is a written friendship. In real life, we are completely different people. But yes, there’s a special bond, over the time it has grown. You may get along with some people and you may not get along with some people as much. So, you go there and do your job. When you spend so much time together, you really start enjoying each other’s company. We have now come to a really nice and happy space.

For critics, the show celebrated 'flawed women'. Are we stressing too much on perfection solely for women?

I guess in the mainstream narrative, especially in Bollywood – it’s like men writing about their fantasy women. So, the show is about these 4 women, celebrating ourselves the way we are. Who wants to be perfect? You want to be amazing. You want to be badass, beautiful and unique. And these stereotypes of what defines a good girl and a bad girl are bizarre. You can’t put women in boxes just like you can’t put women in boxes.

Your character Daamini started a lot of conversation around boldness and your intimate scenes with Milind Soman. But don't you feel after the first season, the conversation got stuck to sex and not more?

Yes, and no! Now, we all have a very big problem with this word ‘bold’ and it doesn’t mean having sex, it is defined from the mind and thinking. If you see West stars being intimate on-screen like in FRIENDS or Sex education, you don’t talk about it separately but when Indian actors do it, everyone is like ‘oh my God’ and conversation start happening on that. That’s like any other emotional scene – she is crying in the scene or she is making out in the scene. And it’s not fun to do it at all. It’s painful – first of all, you bare yourself and then it’s very technical and you’re trying to get everything right. It’s not fun at all! And of course, it took out so many conversations because it was Milind. Other girls also have intimate scenes but ours was the much talked about because it was Milind. Because he has been gorgeous forever. And we have a very goofy relationship. I am like his mother like I am always scolding him and everything. It’s a very sweet and fun relationship. And during the shoot of the second season, his wife came on the set and we were like together pulling his leg, so It was a lot of fun.

What new dimension will we see in Damini in season 2?

There will be a lot more drama. In her professional life, she will go through a lot of ups and downs and in her personal life, there will be a lot more turbulence. It will be quite dramatic.

Your character in Article 15 was completely different from the one in 4MSP. How do you strike a balance between contrasting roles?

I work at home but I don’t bring my characters home. I was actually shooting for Article 15 and Four More Shots season 2 at the same time. It’s not tough for me, like I can’t do one part at a time. I will get bored. Because if I get obsessed about just one part then I will have so much energy left that I will spoil my own performance because I will over-prepare.

Your show will be releasing amid the Coronavirus lockdown. Do you think it will garner more views?

I guess so, everyone’s watching online platforms. I think and hope it does well because it has a really faithful fan following. But apart from that, people have bigger problems in hand right now, it’s going to be a struggle after this.

FSMP celebrates womanhood. Tell us one thing which you have inculcated from your other 3 co-stars, on and off-screen?

Bani’s discipline is something I want to inculcate. Maanvi is really funny, she has a great comic time and she is also very quick. Kirti has the power to zone out whenever she wants to which is quite charming.