Shweta Basu Prasad On Returning To Criminal Justice, Shares Update On Directorial Debut Retake - Exclusive

Beginning

as a child actor, Shweta Basu Prasad has been acting for over two decades. Now, she is expanding her horizons by venturing into writing, direction, and even fashion design. This year, she was part of two successful OTT franchises with Criminal Justice and Maharani. The actress spoke about coming back to play lawyer Lekha Agastya on Criminal Justice and shared her filmmaking plans.

Shweta Basu Prasad on Criminal Justice's Lekha

In an interview with Zoom, the actress spoke about the weird but enjoyable experience of coming back as Lekha. She explained, "It was the first time I had to play a character again. Because as an actor, how do I explain this? It's almost like I let this person live in my head. And then you say, Okay, now you can leave. And then it's like, Oh, we meet again. So, that's what happened with Lekha. It was like, wow, I have to relive this person. It was both exciting and kind of weird. But that went pretty well because I loved Season 4."

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Shweta shared that she was keen to come back as Lekha and Roshni on Criminal Justice and Maharani, respectively, for the shows' next seasons. The actress is a keen reader, and she revealed that she was reading Amitav Ghosh's The Ibis Trilogy while filming Maharani. She said, "And it's such a brilliant [series]; Amitav Ghosh is such a great writer. And I am currently reading Pachinko; the writing is gorgeous. It's actually a very light book." About her viewing habits, Shweta added, "I don't watch to get inspired as an actor, honestly. I think life itself is good enough to inspire the art. Because as an artist, my job is to reflect society as it is, and that will only come when I live it. But I do enjoy watching movies. And something that I watched recently was all three seasons of The White Lotus. I really enjoyed it. I really like that series." ALSO READ: Shweta Basu Prasad On Joining Maharani 4: One Of The Sets Where I Made Genuine Bonds - EXCLUSIVE

Shweta Basu Prasad on upcoming projects and directorial debut

In 2026, the actress has around two films and a couple of series lined up for release. She is hoping her directorial debut, the short film Retake, produced by Applause Entertainment, will also be out. Shweta said, "I wrote the story, screenplay, and dialogues. It's got Anupam Kher, Danish Husain, and Zarina Wahab in the lead. It went to a lot of film festivals, and I'm waiting for it to release now. And I'm currently writing feature films to direct. Of course, I'm acting nonetheless. I've been doing that since my earliest memories in life. And I think that's something that will be till my final memories, I guess, in life."

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This month, Shweta also launched her own clothing line that she has designed. She shared, "It's called C-Sharp because I'm a practicing musician. And the entire line is dedicated to music, musicians, and music lovers because I feel music is the only language that is universal in this world of us versus them and this versus that. And I wanted to do something that is on the same plane for everybody." Criminal Justice Season 4 is now streaming on JioHotstar, while Maharani 4 starring Huma Qureshi is streaming on SonyLIV.