Shefali Shah is finally getting roles that are worthy of her craft

The powerhouse performer is raking in the praise with her latest release ‘Darlings’ and is all set for the second season of ‘Delhi Crime’

Some actors emote with their eyes. Malayalam superstar Fahadh Faasil is known to have one of the most expressive eyes in cinema and many articles have been dedicated to them. The late Irrfan Khan’s eyes were the windows to his soul, revealing as much when they looked at you as they did when he looked away. Re-watching Neeraj Ghaywan’s brilliant short film Juice recently, this writer was struck by how beautifully Shefali Shah manages to say so much through just her expressions and body language. But much after the film has ended, you are left thinking of the expression her eyes emanate. Her steady gaze fixed on her husband conveys more about the daily misogyny she faces than any words probably would.

The short film, which has 9.1 million views on YouTube, received massive love and appreciation when it was released four years ago. Shah is so effective as the long-suffering wife Manju in the film that it is difficult to imagine anyone else in her place, which is what almost happened. “Neeraj had written the script and was considering somebody younger for the role. Because of the kind of work I have done earlier, and the fact that I played Akshay’s mother’s role [she played Akshay Kumar’s mother in the film Waqt at the age of 28], people wonder what my age is–it’s the kind of nonsense thinking this industry has,” she points out. Her agents, who also represent Ghaywan, asked him to meet her once and that is how Juice happened.

Onward and upward

Today, Shah considers her role in Juice as one of the first ones to really propel her career forward. In the years that followed, the actress has delivered one stellar performance after another in films such as Once Again, the anthology Ajeeb Daastaans and in Jalsa, where she shared screen space with Vidya Balan. The highlight of her career, she believes–and most would agree–was her turn as DCP Vartika Chaturvedi who is assigned to investigate a brutal gang-rape in the Netflix series Delhi Crime. The show was named the Best Drama Series at the 48th International Emmy Awards and Shah received the Best Actress award at the Asian Academy Creative Awards for her understated and layered performance.

Shah admits that she has always been loved and appreciated for her understanding of the craft, even in the initial phase of her acting career in television shows such as Banegi Apni Baat and Hasratein. However, it not did not really translate into work. “They’d say, ‘you’re one of the finest,’ but then what after that? You’re the finest but we will make you part of the supporting cast. With Delhi Crime, somebody took a chance and said I’m going to put you in the lead. That changed the perspective for a lot of people,” she adds. Safe to say this is the best time of her career? “Oh yes, definitely!” she nods, the wide smile on her face reaching her eyes. “If somebody had told me 20 years ago that I would reach my peak time in my 40s, people would have laughed!” she chuckles.

Worthy of credit

In her latest release Darlings on Netflix, Shah plays Shamshunissa, mother to Alia Bhatt’s character Badrunissa who is a victim of domestic abuse in the black comedy. Bhatt has maintained in her interviews that before anything else, it is a mother-daughter story first, giving Shah her due credit as a parallel lead. In a review for Mint Lounge, critic Uday Bhatia, who has also written the book Bullets Over Bombay about the making of Satya, notes: ‘Twenty-four years ago she [Shah] was unforgettable as Pyaari in Satya, no small feat in a film dedicated to men and their plans. There’s a similar force and forthrightness in Shamshunissa, and a dark undercurrent: she had an unworthy husband as well.’

Shah is glad she has finally reached a place in her career where she is being offered leads and parallel leads. “I want to do central characters and a film doesn’t necessarily have one central character. Darlings is about four people. Human was about so many people. Delhi Crime is about so many people,” she points out. Ever since she started her journey in acting, content has always taken precedence over everything else. “If you look at Monsoon Wedding or Satya, which was technically my first film, or Gandhi My Father or The Last Lear–they are all content-driven films,” she says. Self-admittedly, she has done fewer projects than many others but is proud to be associated with the work she has done.

Lights, camera, action!

Shah puts everything down to her gut instinct, which, she believes, has always worked for her. “A lot of big films have been offered to me which had important roles but I did not feel from within that I wanted to do them. They were all big films such as Neerja and Kapoor & Sons but I just didn’t think I would be able to do justice to them,” she explains.

Technically, her first film, Satya, recently completed 24 years. Remind Shah of the popular ‘Sapne mein milti hai’ number and she laughs, “I still get embarrassed when anybody plays that song. However, Shah admits that her process as an actor has undergone a huge change since those days. “I used to be very proud of my spontaneity but Delhi Crime became my learning curve. There is a lot of work that goes into a role now. We have heard that Hollywood stars read the scripts hundreds of times, that is what you have to do here now because you don’t know what’s going to come out of it,” she says. Once all her research is in place and the camera is rolling, that’s when the spontaneous actor in her comes alive again and she seamlessly transforms into the character.

Ask her if she has any regrets about doing lesser work or passing on projects that went on to become successful later and she dismisses the question with a wave of her hand. “At that point of time, Shefali at that age thought they were the right decisions. I don’t believe in hypotheticals. It’s a waste of time and energy. Agar maine yeh kiya hota… Nahi kiya na? For how many years can you keep cribbing about one thing or keep dancing about one glory that happened a hundred years ago. Move on!” she responds.

Well, Shah has definitely moved on to roles and projects that respect her talent as a performer and she couldn’t be more thrilled. She is now looking forward to the much-anticipated second season of Delhi Crime and is understandably excited. “You don’t want me to start on that one; I will not stop. It’s my baby!” she laughs. Guess we'll just have to let her eyes do the talking again.

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