We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mansi Bhatia. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mansi below.

Hi Mansi, thanks for joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

My acting career began at the tender age of 4 in Tollywood, which is the Bengali language film industry. I remember the creative bug caught me quite young, sparked by a serendipitous moment in 2002. It all began when a friend of my mother’s recommended me for a one-day gig as an extra on a television show set.

While I was only supposed to be one frame, when the camera was on me, I went off-script and started singing Que Sera Sera by Doris Day. The entire set erupted in laughter, but the director instructed that the cameras should keep rolling. That director happened to be none other than Mr Ravi Ojha, who was a stalwart in the industry. He recognised my talent and changed the entire script of the serial to accommodate my role. Eventually, I was shown to be the adopted child of the two protagonists and I continued working in the show – ” Ek Akasher Niche” for 5 years. What followed after that were endless modelling assignments for magazines, newspapers and corporate calendars.

Mansi, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

At the core of my creative pursuit is writing. In the last few years, I’ve experimented with several formats from poetry and personal essays to songwriting and now screenwriting. Presently, my focus is directed toward two distinct projects. The first project is the development of my feature film, “Cleo’s Brunch.” I’m currently fleshing out the script, and I hope to direct it myself in the coming year. Secondly, I am building The Blahcksheep which is a new-wave publishing platform with my sister, Pooja. I would invite the readers of Canvas Rebel to take a look at our platform and share their work with us. On a more personal note, I recently got engaged to my long-term boyfriend Pranit and since I’m passionate about curating events and soireés, I’m super excited about planning my Big Fat Indian Wedding that’ll take place in 2024

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

The fear of putting yourself out there every damn time is, without a doubt, the most difficult part of the creative journey. It may be super rewarding but being vulnerable and opening yourself to consistent judgement requires a lot of courage. Every piece of music or essay I’ve put out into the world is like baring your soul open, and it’s disappointing sometimes to think that others might not like it. This is a big difference that someone from the non-creative world will not understand.

Another struggle would probably be emotional investment. Non-creatives might not fully understand the emotional highs and lows that come with the territory. Having said this, I feel like some of the world’s best creation comes from the mergence of the creatives with the non-creatives, and I hope to see more of this in the coming future.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding part of being artistic is rejecting it from your innards and into the world. I consider the world my artistic dumping ground where i can recycle bits of myself. The journey of taking an idea from inception to completion and then making it accessible for others is the part I enjoy most. I’ve often struggled with the concept of perfection, but I’ve begun to realise that sharing the unrefined bits with others is what makes the journey so beautiful. This way, you get to connect with amazing and talented people that can make you better than who you were before. And isn’t that what life should be about?

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theblahcksheep.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mansibee/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mansibee/
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/11OAUBB8J5TWACAc3uX0RS?si=E1Sqngh-TiWWNTMAWIGc-w