What happens when the career you love starts making you question who you are?

Actor and director Shivani Tanksale joins Sima Raaj for an unusually candid conversation about theatre, ambition, rejection, divorce, success, people-pleasing and rediscovering the joy of being an artist.

Shivani opens up about going through a divorce while questioning her identity as an actor, feeling that she had “lost her spark,” and the moment that reminded her why she still loves performing.

She also speaks about the less glamorous side of the entertainment industry — networking, appearances, being at the right place at the right time, the pressure to constantly progress your career, and why conventional definitions of success no longer drive her.

From bleeding on stage without realising it, to directing her first play at 26, studying filmmaking in Prague, revisiting Namak Mirch, and her striking belief that “there’s no karma” — this conversation goes far beyond acting.

🎙️ Sima Raaj in conversation with Shivani Tanksale  
Sima — Jiski Koi Seema Nahin

CHAPTERS

00:00 Opening  
01:09 Meet Shivani Tanksale  
03:26 How her journey into acting began  
06:01 The people who shaped her life  
07:51 Hamlet and learning to surrender as an actor  
08:47 The hard work behind the theatre journey  
12:10 Why theatre can become addictive  
14:43 The performance where she was bleeding and didn’t know  
17:06 Applause, rejection and validation  
18:36 Doubts every artist faces  
19:28 Is talent enough in the entertainment industry?  
23:04 Is passion alone enough?  
25:13 Do heartbreak and hardship make better artists?  
29:28 Using emotion and lived experience in performance  
30:29 When Shivani began questioning acting  
31:48 Divorce, misery and “I lost my spark”  
32:31 The moment she rediscovered her love for acting  
33:14 Fame, money and society’s definition of success  
35:27 Why an artist is never really “jobless”  
37:47 Career pressure and killing a part of yourself  
38:44 Breaking away from people-pleasing  
39:16 “The only thing in our control is our time”  
39:34 Advice for young women building a creative life  
42:43 Breaking boundaries  
43:36 Asking her parents for two years to pursue acting  
44:19 The Dubai moment that changed things at home  
44:56 Directing her first play at 26  
46:12 Going to Prague to study filmmaking  
47:26 The story behind Namak Mirch  
50:18 Why language shouldn’t be dumbed down for audiences  
53:27 What Shivani wants to create next  
54:08 Rapid fire  
55:58 “There’s no karma”  
56:12 Why suffering — and happiness — can be a choice  
56:29 Why we worry too much about how we’re perceived  
56:42 What still gives her hope  
57:21 Closing thoughts

If you’ve ever questioned your career, compared your journey with someone else’s, or wondered whether you’re still doing what you genuinely love, this conversation may stay with you.

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