MUMBAI: Supriya Shukla has been in the industry for almost two decades now and has been a part of films like "Parineeta", "3 Idiots", "Do Dooni Chaar", and "Main Tera Hero", to name a few, and shows like "Woh Rehne Waali Mehlon Ki", "Tere Liye", "Kumkum Bhagya", among others. The actress confessed that when it comes to picking a project, she doesn't just accept anything.

"I am lucky, and god has been very kind to me that whatever character I have portrayed on-screen, it has been accepted by the audience. I really had to think about 'Molkki' because my character in 'Kumkum Bhagya' was very positive and strong and I never thought that anybody would offer me a negative role. Thanks to Ekta (Kapoor) for perceiving me as a negative character. I grabbed 'Molkki' because I never thought that after doing Sarla for so many years anybody could ever even think about it so I feel lucky," she said.

"As an actor, it's always such a pleasure when you get to do so many different characters. It's something which you love so if you get to portray a certain character where you can put your heart and soul, I think every actor wants that. So I am lucky that I got a chance to portray my passion and translate it into a character, and the audience loved it," she added.

But playing a negative character also invites a lot of criticism and trolling? "I am lucky that my audience is not giving me so much of gaalis or anything maybe because the positive character still exists. They do make memes and they do abuse and then they write sorry also. I feel so good that at least they respect me as an actor," she said.

Supriya is in FNP Media's short film "Almariyaan", and even though she is doing two shows currently, she was able to take out time for it. She said, "I always keep 10 days with me separately. I don't shoot on those days so that I can do some of my theater and writing because I need my own space as well. That is why if I shoot for a feature film also it's not much of a problem. I just inform them timely and I get the break."

The short film revolves around middle-class parents who not just accept that their son is gay but in fact make him comfortable about confessing it by dropping hints that they are aware. Talking about society becoming more accepting towards the LGBTQ community, she said, "The society is opening up to a lot of things and soon I think they'll be normal about it. In our field also we have so many people who belong to the community, and I personally feel they are more loving, passionate and sensitive."

"At least, in metros, people have opened up to this whole thing and they don't differentiate between a lot of things whether it's LGBTQ or religious thing. I think it's people in small towns who still don't know exactly what it is because they need more awareness that the LGBTQ community is a part of society. Otherwise, I think what difference is there, we are all humans, we all need a soul and a body," Supriya wrapped up.