They have known each other since 2016 and are each other’s “loudest cheerleaders”, actors Mithila Palkar and Prajakta Koli (both 30) reveal they have an “easy-going” friendship.
“We are each other’s fans and critics. We don’t mince our words with each other because that is the ease of being friends with each other,” says Koli. One thing that used to surprise the two of them, “but doesn’t anymore” is how similar they are as people, and often, they end up “saying the same thing or react to things in the same manner”, she adds.
The actors met for a photo shoot where both were “very awkward posing” which helped break the ice. Later they met at another event and became good friends.
Palkar wishes they could spend “more time with each other”, and adds, “We are close friends and often, we are pitched against each other. But we don’t think of each other as competition. It has been a smooth friendship. I don’t think we would have either of us would have it any other way. We just call each other, go to each other’s houses and stay over.”
While Palkar has been acting since 2014 including films and web projects like Little Things, Koli, the Youtube blogger since 2015, began acting three years ago with web show, Mismatched (2020) and film Jugjugg Jeeyo (2022) to her credit. Does being in the same industry help? Koli shares, “She is a different creator and performer artist from what I am. She’s done theatre and so many projects even before I started acting. In fact, I asking her actor questions and it is a blessing to have someone with experience there for me. And I come through for her as a creator advising her to make reels like this and do that on social media etc. Today, both of us are actors, but we’ve reached these points from very different route. Yet, hardly ever is there a conversation about us being in the same industry.” Palker agrees and adds, “Often due to work, we aren’t able to meet and have to schedule time. But industry events become a good opportunity to meet. That’s is a big plus of being in the same industry.”
While “trust and loyalty” are most important to both, “just being themselves with someone means a lot ” to them. Koli says, “In my friendship with Mithila, I got clarity that I need to be able to be myself, at all sides of myself- the good, the bad and the ugly. I feel in a friendship I get talk about my good things and my mistakes just as easily, then it’s a gold mine for me.”
These two BFFs often extend their meetings, as “there’s so much to talk, catch up and share”. “Aisa kabhi nahi hua ke hum mile, lunch aur dinner kiya aur nikal gaye. When we meet, often I end up staying over at her house or she at mine. In fact, whenever we genuinely crave for that kind of comfort from that one person and Mithila has always come through to me for that,” says Koli.
Mithila on Prajakta
I absolutely look up to her for how ambitious she is. I also love how she deals with her fans. She remembers people’s names, what they wrote to her, where they are which is so personal. It’s so special and speaks volumes of the kind of person she is. I really love and respect that about her. I don’t think she realizes the strength she has and does things with such ease that it’s incredible to just watch her and then learn from. She makes herself too accessible, at times to the extent that she hurts herself.
Prajakta on Mithila
I love how fierce Mithila is with people she loves. I don’t think anybody has the power of getting between her and people she loves and I find myself in awe of her because of that. I’ve seen her with her family, her friends and with me. She’s all in. I don’t have to think twice before being myself with her which makes her very special. The magic of Mithila Palker is that she doesn’t know who she is. When she enters a room, people see her but she will never see herself as she probably tripping over her dress, going to get the bag she left in the car or something.
