The eyes have it

She is like a gust of fresh air. Much like her performances. She is also devoid of unnecessary vanity — even though she belongs to a business that often makes it imperative — and pretense isn’t something you can ever accuse her of. All of that was what greeted me when I walked into Shefali Shah’s suite at the JW Marriott Kolkata recently. In town for a visit to The House of Rare’s new store in the city — its largest in India — for the launch of Rarefore’s third chapter, ‘Milap’, Shefali, 52, engaged in a freewheeling conversation with t2oS on life, career and more... those famous eyes lighting up the most when she spoke about her beloved dogs!

Was filming Rituparno Ghosh’s The Last Lear the longest time you have spent in Calcutta?

Yes, and that was a good 15 years ago. I thought it was one of the most calm sets. There was a lot of creativity on that set without the usual show-sha that comes with it. It also had a very strong female energy. We shot in a very contained environment, the atmosphere was very chill, but everyone working on The Last Lear was deeply involved in what they were creating rather than just being on a job.

And he (director Rituparno Ghosh) was just amazing to work with. His insight of everything was so deep and intricate. I don’t remember him telling me to do a scene in a particular way. He would just tell me about who she (her character Vandana) is and what he really wanted to communicate through her and through the story. I loved the entire process of making The Last Lear. It was just beautiful.

Any off set memories of your time in Calcutta?

We would shoot and go back to the hotel, that is what we mostly did. Once in a while, I stepped out to buy saris for my mom.

I will tell you how the film came to me. I was traveling in a rickshaw in Mumbai and I got a call with a gentleman saying “namaste”. I thought it was one of those sales calls and I disconnected it. I got a call again from the same number and it was Mr Amitabh Bachchan! I told the rickshaw driver to stop, saying: “Stop, stop, Amitabh Bachchan is calling me!” He gave me a look which kind of said: “Yes sure, and you are Lady Diana!” (Laughs)

Mr Bachchan told me that he was doing a film with Rituparno Ghosh. He said: “I have given your name and told Ritu he should get you on board”. And that is how it happened. I met Rituda. I rely very heavily on my instincts and I knew I had to be a part of this film. I knew there and then that The Last Lear would be very special, one of those films which would be an experience that touches me very deeply as an actor. It was going to be a film I would stay with for the rest of my life. I am so glad I did it and even more grateful that they thought of me for the part.

I started shooting for the film before Amitji came in. After the first day of shoot, Amitji told me that Rituda had called him at 2 in the night and gone on and on praising my performance (smiles).

The film also had Preity (Zinta), Divya (Dutta), and Arjun (Rampal) and the three of us worked very closely together. The film, technically, was about the equation between these three women, and their relationship with this man (Bachchan’s Harish Mishra). I also won a National Award (for Best Supporting Actress) for the film... and that was really the cherry on the sundae!

You have had a great couple of years, an almost windfall of sorts. You got to headline quite a few prestigious projects. Where do you stand now in terms of your ambitions as an actor?

OTT changed it for me; Delhi Crime really changed things for me. Then there was a slew of films and there was a time, just after Covid-19, where I did six projects in a year. I was like: “Oh my God, this is how my life is going to be from now onwards”. But then I quickly realised that was a fluke.

With Delhi Crime and all the other projects that came my way, I was lucky to get respect and credibility, but it wasn’t somehow translating into work. But then came Jalsa, Human and Darlings.

In fact, Jalsa kind of put me in a place where people said: “Okay, she can be a lead or a parallel lead”. But as an actor, I also learnt a long time ago that the kind of work I want to do will not come to me every day. But that doesn’t mean that I am not open to listening to or meeting people. Of course I am, because you don’t know what is going to click. Not that I know the formula, but I like meeting people. I read everything (in terms of scripts) that comes my way because if something clicks, it clicks. I can’t explain it... it is instinct.

I have wrapped up a film with Vipul (Amrutlal Shah, husband and director-producer) called Hisaab, which has Jaideep Ahlawat and Abhishek Banerjee. We had a lot of fun on set. It is a very witty and funny film based on a heist. I have done Delhi Crime 3, and just recently, I shot for a film with a first-time director which was also a lot of fun. If I had my way, I would be working 365 days of the year.

You thrive in that...

I thrive. I love what I do. I am the happiest on set, or even the whole prep before it. I love it!

Have you been able to zero in on a process that is perhaps uniquely yours?

After Delhi Crime, I told Vipul one day: “I don’t think I am doing enough”. He was like: “What do you mean?’” I said, “I don’t think I am doing the kind of work I did on Delhi Crime, and I think I am ‘cheating’”. He then said a very valid thing to me. He said: “Every film is going to take something different from you. So you can’t follow the same process.”

Having said that, Delhi Crime changed my way of working. Earlier, I used to go more with instinct as an actor — you go into a character and you think about what happens, what is she thinking, who she is.... But DC (Delhi Crime), being a story of just five days, we shot it very fast. Suddenly I would find myself reshooting scene number 33 from episode 4, but every time I shot, I had to start reading it again because I needed to have the context of where Vartika Chaturvedi is in those five days. That made me read the script a hundred times but I found a shorthand way of doing it. That process was quite unique.

Apart from that, for every project, I have extensive discussions with my directors. I love the process of discussing different permutations and combinations and exploring how best to play a character. But then with every project, it is also about leaving all that you have done behind and starting afresh.

It must be an exhilarating feeling to headline a series like Delhi Crime — one of the defining shows of the Indian streaming space. Does that also come with a certain pressure?

I was terrified before Season 2 came out! I started thinking that maybe the success of the first season was a fluke. Vartika is such an integral part of my life. When I slip into her shoes, I automatically feel that I walk taller.

Also, what happened with Season 1, the kind of reception it got, was phenomenal and largely unprecedented. I had no idea it was going to get this kind of acclaim, and that Vartika was going to become one of the most important female characters seen on screen for a very long time. But by the time we came to the second season, I said: “Oh God, these shoes have become too big for me now. I don’t know how to do this anymore”. I told the director of Season Two (Tanuj Chopra took over from Richie Mehta, who helmed the first season) that let us not try and touch Season 1... we should treat the second season as a separate entity.

Also, one has to understand that the first season had a case (the Delhi gangrape case of 2012) that affected everyone on a personal level.

So before the second season dropped, the pressure was crazy. So much so that the night before, I had a sleeping pill and dozed off. I didn’t wake up until afternoon, I didn’t want to talk to anyone, I didn’t want to read reviews, I didn’t want to see social media.... Normally, I am not like that with my other projects, but Delhi Crime has become very personal.

But at some point, I did switch on my phone and the messages and calls started tumbling in. The reviews were very good, I just couldn’t believe it. I was just bawling because I was just so happy! (Laughs) I was so relieved.

Apart from Delhi Crime, which are your other projects that fans and followers talk to you the most about?

Dil Dhadakne Do. For a lot of people, it is the kind of film that makes them go: “Okay, we have nothing to do. Let’s watch Dil Dhadakne Do... we will have fun!” From kids to adults, that is a film which has widespread appeal.

Recently I was at a coffee shop with my son and these young girls came to me. They were like: “Can we take a picture with you? We watched Dil Dhadakne Do for the first time yesterday”. I thought that was very sweet. So basically, people talk about Delhi Crime, Dil Dhadakne Do.... There was a film I did called Once Again (with Neeraj Kabi) that comes up a lot. A lot of people talk about it because it was such a beautiful film.

From my earlier work, there is Monsoon Wedding. There is Satya because of the song Sapne mein milti hain. Every time I hear that song, I am like: “Not again!” But honestly, I cannot take away from what that film and the song did for my career.

Do you remember your first day on the set of your first film?

That was for Rangeela (1995). But that was not my first time facing the camera because I had done quite a few years of television before that. At that time, to be honest, I had no clue about what I was doing! I definitely didn’t know that this was going to be my career path. It is just that one thing led to another. I did intercollegiate and then theatre happened and then somebody suggested my name for something and television happened. After probably doing it for a year, I realised: “Oh I do this every day, so maybe this is my job!” (Laughs) I was really naive.

When I was doing TV, I was told I looked like Sridevi, who I was anyway obsessed with. As a result, I started acting like her, but very soon I realised that I am a terrible mimic! But gradually, I came into my own and realised who I am as an actor.

My initial films — Satya, Monsoon Wedding — had ensemble casting and I was relieved that the pressure was not all on me, that I had far more senior actors in the film to take care of that. Satya was great fun... Manoj (Bajpayee) was a friend, Anurag (Kashyap, who wrote the film) was a friend. And then on Monsoon Wedding, there was Mira (Nair, director) and Naseer bhai (Naseeruddin Shah). Mira’s entire process was very different, and that was lovely. I felt like I was going to an acting camp. You made friends, you had breakfast together, you did yoga together and then you workshopped, which was led by Naseer bhai. It was a lovely, lovely process.

Are you amazed or amused or both by how much is said and written about your eyes?

You know, I wonder sometimes that if I go blind suddenly, what will happen?! (Laughs) In fact, I have actually thought of this idea for a film... imagine an actor who is recognised for her eyes going blind one day.As actors, we have the privilege of a camera which catches the smallest nuances. That is why I always believe that as an actor, in front of the camera, if you can say two words, then don’t say four. If you can say it without any words, then don’t say anything at all.

I was dubbing for Delhi Crime 3 recently and there was a silent moment. I looked at my director and said: “If you do a next season, then just keep me mute.” I think I work the best when I am zipped up!

But yes, I am so much about my eyes that Vipul says: “When you are angry, all I see is a pair of eyes walking around the house! There is no human being... just a pair of eyes!” (Laughs) My son says that I am a big failure at hiding anything... it is all there in my eyes. Which means that in real life, I am a terrible actor! (Laughs)

It has been a while since you directed your two short films. Will we see you making a feature film anytime soon?

There are a couple of scripts that I have worked on. The thing is that there is never a right time to take the plunge... I guess I will just have to do it, free fall and then see where I land. It is a huge responsibility. I have an idea in my mind but I haven’t got down to pitching it to anyone yet.

I do like directing. I did those two short films (Someday and Happy Birthday Mummy Ji) and I really enjoyed the process a lot. One thing I appreciate about Vipul a lot is that he is a very good director and producer and because he is both, he understands every aspect of what goes into filmmaking. As a creative person, you could end up wanting the moon, but a film’s biggest strength lies in making it within a certain budget. You have to respect what the producer is getting to the table and not go insane with it.

We know how much you love your dogs... the Internet is full of videos of you with your fur babies. Has being a dog mom made you a better person?

My life has completely changed! A friend pointed out that after we got Ash and Simba into our lives, things not only changed for us emotionally but also in terms of luck.

I read somewhere — and I totally believe it — that dogs are souls that didn’t get a human form, that they were your kids in a past life and they have found their way back to you. I am so grateful that these little ones came to us, and they changed everything in my house... the energy of the house is so much better.

Vipul was never a dog person. When we decided to get our dogs, he was like: “They can’t lick me, they can’t come into the bedroom!” I was like: “Are you serious?!” And now cut to them being sprawled on the bed with him every night. The first interaction of the day for him is with these babies, his last interaction of the day is with them too. They have brought us so much joy!

I may not be the best advocate for marriage or having children because it is a huge responsibility, one should do it only if one is dead sure about it. But if someone wants to get a dog, I would be the first person to say: “Go for it!” But there is responsibility too... it is definitely like raising another child.

The best thing? Unlike human kids, dogs don’t answer back. And they definitely don’t ask for OTPs!