Be it playing a teenage girl from a village in Pakistan in Khamosh Pani, a senior hockey player in Chak De India, a seductress aunty in BA Pass or a wannabe socialite who aspires to be Miss India in Crazy Cukkad Family — no matter how intense the role is, Shilpa Shukla has managed to create a lasting impression through her performance. After having worked with directors of repute like Sabiha Sumar, Shimit Amin, Ajay Bahl and Ritesh Menon, Shukla is all set for her next movie Bombairiya by Pia Sukanya and India-born British producer Michael Ward. She’ll be now seen playing a politician in Bombairiya.
“I did play a politician before but that was on a very serious note. I was the first woman gangster from Mumbai who become a politician. That was the mini-series called Rajuben under Director’s Cut where Anurag Kashyap was the creative director. But in Bombairiya, the character of Irawati is very new age and relatable. I’m quite excited with the way they are going about Irawati’s entire presentation,” Shukla says.
When she got the script, she was initially skeptical about signing this project. “I was giggling throughout while reading the script and at the same time started questioning that why me for this characterIJ I even suggested some other actors who can fit perfectly into this role but the director finally convinced me. Though the character doesn't have much screen time, it has a lot of significance. She is someone who is coming with big perspective in the story,” Shukla tells you, adding that the movie has a great ensemble of interesting actors like Radhika Aapte, Akshay Oberoi, Siddhanth Kapoor and Ravi Kishan.
She is also excited about her new monologue titled A Woman Alone which is going to be staged on May 22 at Epicentre Gurgaon. “I first staged this monologue in February at the same venue and the show ran housefull. The original version of the monologue was written by Dario Fo and it’s a hardcore play which can’t be internalised easily. So, I have adapted it and made it very light and conversational for the Indian audience. It’s about an anonymous woman who is living in a Gurgaon apartment and never ventures out. The way she expresses her idea of women in society and violence against women is very interesting,” she tells you.
Making a comeback to theatre after 12 years has been refreshing for Shukla. A theatre group — Renaissance Theatre Society, which was formed 10 years ago by Mohit Tripathi, Shilpa Shukla and other members, will be having their third set of theatre festival soon. “I’m very happy to be back to the stage after 12 years. Theatre is so much fun and it helps to bring out your repressed emotion. The beauty lies in the fact that you can talk your heart out about various issues through your innovative approach and connect with a lot of audience,” she tells you.
There are many others like Shukla, who hail from the theatre background and keep coming back to it. Seasoned actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Swanand Kirkire, Om Puri and the likes are all stage actors who have made it big in Bollywood. “There are a lot of young actors who are doing theatre side-by-side. like Kalki Koechlin, Huma Qureshi, Richa Chaddha, Ayushmann Khurrana, Purab Kohli, and many others who are active in the theatre circuit. Coming back to the theatre is very rejuvenating and it polishes you as an actor,” she explains.
Shukla is one such actress who believes in doing meaty characters and work on stories which needs to be told to the masses. “People do four movies in one year but I’ve done one movie in four years. I have always been driven by stories and characters. I like to be able to take that refall and then walk that thin line. For me, it’s the art for liberation. After getting fame through Chak De India and BA Pass, I got a lot of movie offers but I’m doing those movies where I feel that the story is important to be told,” she says.
Talking about her most challenging role, she says: “Every movie has been very special and had its own set of challenges. Also, it required different method and approach to the character. I did my first movie Khamosh Pani when I was in first year of my college. We shot for this film in Pakistan for over a year and a half before and after the 9/11 incident. The one year of sheer hard work went into Chak De India. There was no escape route or short cut to play the character of senior hockey player so convincingly.
“Crazy Cukkad Family was my first comedy and is another gem and when it will come on TV, people will love it. The fact that veteran filmmakers like Raju Hirani, Sudhir Mishra and many other gave such amazing feedback and appreciated the movie was overwhelming. But I think if given another chance, I would better that role now,” Shukla says.
For her, it was BA Pass which was a big turning point in her life. “That movie was an eye-opener for me as an actor. I always believed that the art is different from the artist. Doing such a bold sensual character was an instinctive decision and my personal choice which I took when I was on a detour from the industry. I was reading that script on my phone and I was glued to it to know what will happen at the end. A story like BA Pass was never told before in Bollywood. It was during that time when I also lost my father. I lost him due to heart stroke the month I finished the last schedule of the movie. So, it was emotionally difficult to cope up with such a big loss in my life,” she says.
But she is happy that the movie, which was made on a shoe-string budget, was very well appreciated at various International film festivals. “We shot for the movie for a year and a half as director Ajay Bahl was directing and producing it in a limited budget. I believe that now the world is opening and becoming a part of independent cinema. We’ve to figure out how to sell the content. The fight is with the big production houses. It’s very challenging and yet interesting to be a part of a change,” Shukla says, signing off.