MUMBAI: Actress Anuja Sathe says essaying the role of a mafia queen in the web series "Ek Thi Begum" demanded immense emotional and mental investment.

"We've usually seen films and stories on the mafia/ dons helmed by men, this story talks about a woman rising above her sorrows and becoming the mafia queen of her time," Anuja said.

"I've portrayed a variety of roles before, but this is an opportunity that I just couldn't let go of. Ashraf has many shades to her and reflecting that on screen was a challenge that I wanted to take up. It took immense emotional and mental investment. I hope that people appreciate and enjoy the series as much as we did while making it," she added.

Set in the 1980s in Mumbai, MX Original Series "Ek thi Begum" chronicles the life of Ashraf Bhatkar aka Sapna (played by Anuja). Her life changed when the city's biggest don Maqsood (Ajay Gehi) turned responsible for the death of her husband Zaheer (Ankit Mohan).

The 14 episodic series is created, written and directed by Sachin Darekar. Inspired by true events, the series will stream on MX Player from April 8.

Talking about the project, Darekar said: "This narrative brilliantly captures the resilient strength of a woman who was pushed to the brink but emerges as a dominant force. All the characters play a crucial role in the story and they have truly brought this project alive with their performance."

The show also stars Chinmay Mandlekar, Rajendra Shisatkar, Resham, Abhijeet Chavan, Pradip Doiphode, Vithal Kale, Nazarr Khan, Vijay Nikam, Anil Nagarkar, Suchit Jadhav, Raju Aathavale and Santosh Juvekar amongst others.