Shreya Chaudhry: Acting lets me travel, & travelling lets me grow

Time of India

03-05-2025

Before she lit up screens in
Bandish Bandits
, and more recently in Boman Irani's directorial debut
Mehta Boys
,
Shreya Chaudhry
was simply someone chasing new horizons – quite literally. A self-confessed
travel enthusiast
, Shreya shares how her love for exploration has seamlessly blended with her acting journey, taking her from the deserts of
Rajasthan
to
film festivals
around the world.
'Festival travel has its own kind of magic,' says Shreya who visited the South Asian Film Festival in Chicago, and later the International Film Festival of India in Goa for Mehta Boys. 'The conversations, the films you stumble upon by chance — it's all part of the discovery,' she shares
'I wanted to be a pilot'
'I was just someone who loved to travel,' Shreya tells us, revealing she once even considered becoming a pilot. 'I actually wanted to be a pilot at one point. When my parents asked what I loved most, I said 'travel'. Travel reminds me who I am when work is over, and it helps me connect with myself. I've been to so many places, including Sikkim, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh. I love acting, and I love travelling. And because of acting, I'm able to travel too,' she states.
Shreya Chaudhry in a still from Bandish Bandits
'Rajasthan feels like a second home'
After filming two seasons of
Bandish Bandits
in Rajasthan, Shreya, who grew up in Mumbai, says Rajasthan feels like a second home. She says, 'During the first and second seasons, we stayed there for a long time, and Rajasthan just won my heart. Wahan pe hills bhi hain, sand dunes bhi hain, lakes bhi hain – it's got everything.'
During the shoot of the series, Shreya spent her days off exploring Jodhpur's narrow lanes, sampling
kachoris
and
malai ghewar
, or zip-lining across Mehrangarh Fort. 'I even made a spontaneous visit to a camel milk farm outside the city,' she recalls. For the show's second season, filming took her to Himachal Pradesh and Landour. 'We filmed scenes at a school in Sanawar and at the Gaiety Theatre in Shimla,' she says.