Happy Birthday Mummyji, the short film you have directed, is about a celebration—a 75th birthday—but over the last year-and-a-half the fun of celebration has gone from our lives…
Truly, my son graduated and he couldn’t be at his graduation ceremony, nor could I. When he went to university, I wanted to settle him in, but I couldn’t. These are big landmark moments in his life and ours.
I would have loved to be with my team when Delhi Crime was adjudged Best Drama Series at the International Emmy Awards and when Ajeeb Daastaans released, but I couldn’t. Yes, the pandemic has taken a lot away from us, so, now, instead of waiting for an event, I celebrate the smallest of things in our day-to-day life. One evening during lockdown, I put together a basket of goodies and we sat on the deck and had a picnic. (Laughs) It was short-lived because the sandwiches finished very fast.
What is it like for a sensitive actor and director to live with the constant fear of illness?
Scary! The pandemic is one of the worst screenplays ever written. It’s something none of us had ever imagined even in our wildest dreams. With a sword hanging over our heads, the last year-and-a-half has been crazy, taken a huge mental and emotional toll. It’s made me realize how little time we might have. I have been wanting to direct for a long time, but with this realization, I had to do it today, not wait for the perfect day which might never come. That’s how Someday which is being showcased at the Stuttgart Film Festival, and Happy Birthday Mummyji happened.
You’ve also written a book during the lockdown?
It’s still just a manuscript, but yes, I want to publish it. It’s a love story, I’m inclined to romance in a big way. I also want to write a slice-of-life story, I haven’t started work on that yet but I have also written two scripts, both love stories.
Ankahi, in the Netflix anthology Ajeeb Daastaans, offered a different perspective on love and romance, bringing together a deaf photographer and a married woman whose daughter is slowly turning deaf. That must have required a lot of prep?
I prepped to get the sign language right, but for the rest, I just became Natasha and felt what she did. That goes for any character I play, I step into their shoes and cease to be Shefali. Ankahi is a lovely story, Manav (co-star, Manav Kaul) was amazing and Kabir and Natasha were beautiful together.
If you instead of Kayoze Irani had directed Ankahi, would you have changed the ending?
No, but I feel Natasha would walk by Kabir’s studio again, just to catch a glimpse of him. I don’t know if she will go and offer a justification for what she did to him because there is no justification. She hadn’t lied about how she felt for him, she loved him.
Delhi Crime’s DCP Vartika Chaturvedi is unforgettable. The second season comes amidst sky high expectations as this crime-drama on Netflix has found a cult following. Can Part 2 live up to them?
A project like Delhi Crime just happens. Also, it spoke about a subject, the Nirbhaya case, that had affected all of us personally. The second season has a different creator who comes with a new vision. It would be unfair to compare them. What we can hope for is that DC2 by itself is a good show, that’s where its credibility will lie.
Do you see Delhi Crime spinning a franchise like the American shows?
I think it could, but that’s something for the producers and network to talk about. On my part, I love to step into Vartika’s shoes every time.
As an actor, after doing shows like Delhi Crime and Ajeeb Daastaans, is it difficult finding another project that gives as much satisfaction?
Honestly, till now that was difficult to come by, but DC has been a game changer for me. Finally, I’m getting the kind of work I want to do. All the scripts are brilliant, like Doctor G is a funny and sensitive social drama. I’m venturing into genres I haven’t explored before, like Darlings, a really funny dark comedy in which my character feels, says and behaves exactly as she wants to.
All the characters I’m doing now are so varied. The one I am playing in my husband Vipul Shah and Mozez Singh’s Human which is about the dark underbelly of the medical world, is someone I haven’t even met in real life, in fact, no one who’s been on the project and seen her come to life ever has. The show features Kirti Kulhari and I. I’m getting to play the lead and parallel leads now, main characters, and thoroughly loving every moment.
For an actor like you the OTT boom must have come as a boon?
Absolutely, OTT has opened horizons for all creative people as it’s content, talent and performance driven. Whether it’s creators, writers, directors or actors, one is not burdened by star power or the Friday box-office. You can tell gritty stories revolving around characters and not just the hero and the heroine.
