ELLE Digital Cover Star: Actor, First, Why Shriya Pilgaonkar Has Always Chosen Craft

In an industry obsessed with visibility, the actor reflects on theatre, discipline, and building a career defined by patience and reinvention.

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There is something unhurried about the way she speaks about her career, shaped less by caution or rehearsal than by a confidence that doesn’t need to rush. Over the past decade, Shriya Pilgaonkar’s presence has accumulated rather than announced itself, shaped by discipline, curiosity, and a refusal to chase easy visibility. Her work moves between theatre, streaming, and cinema, across languages and formats, without ever feeling like a bid for range. What reads, from the outside, as patience has in fact been precision.

Born into a family where craft was never negotiable, Pilgaonkar learned early that legacy is not something you lean on, but something you carry. “Coming from a legacy does not really give you shortcuts. If anything, it gives you a sense of responsibility,” she says. It is a distinction she returns to often. Legacy, in her telling, is neither burden nor advantage. It is a standard. One that demands discipline, dedication, and, as she puts it, “the audacity to create your own path and find your voice.”

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Legacy, Without Shortcuts

Raised by Sachin and Supriya Pilgaonkar, artists whose careers were built on longevity rather than frenzy, she grew up understanding that work, not noise, sustains a life in the arts. There is no romanticism in the way she speaks about inheritance. “It is a privilege to have parents who have been in this industry for so long, but taking that legacy forward really comes down to discipline, dedication,” she says. What is notable is the absence of defensiveness. She does not explain herself into legitimacy. Nor does she frame her journey as something to escape from.

“I have never come from an entitled space,” she says. “The audience has seen my journey unfold step by step, and I've worked hard without baggage to establish my space in the industry.” When she speaks about validation, it sits firmly outside industry approval. “The feedback you get from the audience is way greater than the one from the fraternity,” she adds. For Pilgaonkar, the truest measure of success is not proximity to power, but the slow accumulation of trust.

That same economy shows up in how she works. On set, she is precise and unsentimental — quick to understand what is needed, conscious of output, and uninterested in excess. Once the shot is achieved and she’s satisfied, she moves on, conserving energy for what matters next.

Thinking Like A Theatre Actor

Before the camera, there was the stage. Pilgaonkar began her acting life in theatre, performing in nearly ten plays with over a hundred performances. She speaks of it not as a stepping stone, but as a discipline that continues to shape how she works. “Theatre hones your skills as a performer,” she says. “That energy exchange with a live audience is addictive and deeply fulfilling.”

More than anything, theatre taught her restraint. “In an industry that often rewards speed and noise, theatre has taught me to be truly present and disciplined,” she says. That sensibility carries into her screen performances, where listening often matters as much as expression. Rather than chasing attention, she has focused on inhabiting characters fully, trusting that clarity follows commitment.

“I feel privileged that I have acted in all the mediums,” she adds. Theatre, streaming, cinema;  none are positioned hierarchically. Each is simply another site for learning.

The Long Road As A Conscious Choice

If there is a single philosophy that anchors Pilgaonkar’s career, it is longevity. “I have always visualised a career that spans fifty years and more, not one that peaks for five,” she says. The sentence explains her comfort with pauses, her movement across languages, and her refusal to be fixed in one register.

Her work spans Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, English, and French projects, a range she speaks about with genuine excitement. “I am drawn to working in different languages,” she says. “That really excites me.” But this breadth is not about expansion for its own sake. “Being visible and being truly seen as a performer are very different things,” she reflects.

OTT platforms have given her reach and range, something she acknowledges openly. “My work in the OTT space has given me immense love and scope to perform,” she says. At the same time, she is deliberate about balance. “Going ahead, the focus is on balance between films and series.” With major theatrical releases and international work ahead, she describes 2026 as “the beginning of a new chapter where I am stepping out of my comfort zone.”

Security, Not Arrival

One of the most revealing things Pilgaonkar says is also one of the simplest. “I’ve never questioned whether I belong.” It is not bravado. It is grounding. Her sense of self, she explains, has been consciously built. “My sense of self-worth doesn’t hinge entirely on outcomes,” she says. “That’s been a conscious journey.”

For her, success is not limited to professional milestones. “It’s not just professional milestones, but finding joy and growth in all aspects of life.” She is wary of the idea of arrival as a fixed state. “The moment you think you’ve arrived, you’ve reached a dead end,” she says. Curiosity, she believes, is essential. “Staying curious, evolving and reinventing yourself is the only way forward.”

Privacy As Creative Fuel

Pilgaonkar understands the demands of visibility, but draws clear lines around it. “Putting yourself out there is part of showbiz, but not everything needs to serve an algorithm,” she says. Privacy, for her, is not withdrawal. It is preservation. “Protecting my inner world allows me to function at my best, creatively and otherwise.”

She speaks of life beyond work with the same clarity. Travel, stepping out of the industry bubble, spending time with different people — these are not indulgences, but recalibrations. “Some things are meant to be lived first,” she says. In a profession that requires constant emotional output, that boundary feels less like caution and more like care.

Still Becoming

Looking back at the past decade, Pilgaonkar describes it as “an intentional build rather than a rush for headlines.” She speaks with pride about the women she has portrayed — a lawyer, a journalist, a cult leader — roles connected less by type than by intent. “Choosing versatility has always been intentional,” she says.

Even now, there is no sense of completion. “Even after a decade, I truly feel like I’m just getting started.” Growth, for her, is not about reinvention for spectacle, but about refusing stagnation. “I don’t want to be attached to a single version of myself.”

And that, perhaps, is the quiet throughline of Shriya’s career so far: an actor shaped by time, not urgency. Someone who has chosen to build slowly, think deeply, and remain open to becoming.

Team Credits:

Editorial Director: Ainee Nizami Ahmedi; Photographer: Agnidhra Ray; Stylist: Shreeja Rajgopal; Asst Art Director: Alekha Chugani; Makeup: Shruti Kode; Hair: Umang Thapa; Agency: Anima Creatives; Jr. Bookings Editor: Anushka Patil; Words by: Kannagi Desai; Assisted by: Sharayu Karalkar (bookings); Artist Reputation Management: Keerat Publicity