The incredibly accomplished Shahana Goswami is in the news for her new film Santosh going to the Oscars as the UK’s Official entry into the Oscars. In an exclusive interview, the actress speaks of this unprecedented feat achieved by a film featuring an Indian and crew.
Are you surprised at Santosh getting so much global attention?
I, actually I'm not surprised by the attention because these kinds of things, I think when you team the word Oscar with anything, people tend to get excited. So I'm not surprised at that. I think plus additionally, in this case, I think there's a lot of conversation around the fact of the surprise element of it being a film set in India with Indian actors and everything, but it going as a UK entry. But yeah, it's good. I feel like it's great that the film has come into so many people's consciousness just by virtue of this. So I'm really happy for the project and for whatever attention it's garnering through whatever means. And also the fact that it does get an opportunity to be selected for a larger platform of something like the Oscars, which can then propel the film, the people involved in the film, the stories, the subjects of the subject of the film to another level.
How did you bag the principal part in Santosh?
So, the casting director of the film is basically Mukesh Chhabra. So, Mukesh and actor Sanjay Bishnoi, who's also in the film, they happened to have come for the screening of the premiere of Zwigato. And I think the next day, Sanjay got in touch with me and said, you have to come and meet this woman(Santosh director Sandhya Suri). She’s here for a very short period of time and she’s auditioning and you need to come and audition for this part. And that was it. And as I met her, we just ended up auditioning for certain scenes impromptu. And then they called me in again to do a couple of auditions with other actors, you know, who were the prospective actors for the character of Sharma, which Sunita played eventually. And I, of course, I auditioned with Sunita Rajwar as well. And yeah, and then before I could really understand and process, they offered me the film. I read the script and it was just a really brilliantly written script.So, it was an immediate yes for me. So, that’s how it happened.
Where is Santosh taking you next?
I don't know. I think Santosh is going to many, many, many places. Many of them I don't even know of. It's going to the London Film Festival very soon. And then it's going to Busan. I don't know of its journey anywhere else. It's supposed to be showing at a film festival in LA, which is also sometime in October, but I don't know where and what. It's shown at MAMI and it's showing at the Dharamshala Film Festival in November. So, I mean, I'm sure it's going to be showing in different places, but I'm not sure where all I will be a part of it. But I'm happy to see where it takes me and where we go. And even if I don't end up going anywhere, the film travelling around.
What are you shooting for now?
I don't have anything new that I'm shooting for just as yet. I had shot a film with Kanu Behl and Manoj Bajpai and a whole bunch of amazing actors, actually. My part is only with Manoj. I play his wife and it's a film called Despatch. And so that I'm excited about it because I haven't watched it. It's been a while since we made the film and I'm really happy that it's finally coming out. I have, of course, Santosh travelling around everywhere and hopefully again, it will find distribution in different parts of the world. It's already had a fantastic run and release in France. And now it's going to be shown in the UK probably. We're hoping that we get distribution in India. We have distributors already in the US. So yeah, I'm just excited about that film really travelling and being seen across the world.
You are the protagonist of the Australian series Four Years Later?
Four Years Later is another wonderful English-language TV show with two Indian Indians in the lead speaking like how we speak, not with an accent, not playing someone else from somewhere else. And it's a beautiful kind of love story about these two people that are separated very early on in the relationship and living between different continents and four years apart. You know, four years they've lived apart and how they've grown and changed. And now you see them meeting again after four years and you kind of keep going back and forth in time to understand their journey as a couple and their journey individually. And it's just a lot about life, about love, about growth, about ambition, about dreams, about immigration, about, you know, so many things, culture. So that was also screened at MAMI. So Mami actually had three projects of mine Santosh, Despatch and Four Years. And eventually, like I said, Four Years Later is also with ITV and they are going to try and get distribution around the world for it to come out on different OTT platforms in different parts of the world. So that's kind of where I'm at.
Which of your works do you consider landmarks of your career so far?
This question always throws me off. I don't know, because there are certain films, you know, as an actor, for me, I feel like my attachment to certain projects is more to do with the journey I've had rather than to do with how the film shaped up and how I am in the film or how I feel about how I am in the film. And then there are also projects that you feel special about because of the journey of the film. So, but I think broadly if I were to think of it as a kind of combination of the two, to some extent, I would say definitely my first film Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota because it was just an opportunity to work with Naseer, to Ratna, Pathak Shah, Paresh Rawal. So even though, of course, I had a small role, but it was just special because it was my first film, first-ever audition, and then working with a huge bunch of talented people, both directly and indirectly, because it’s a huge ensemble cast and you really had the creme de la creme of actors in it. And then I would say Firaq. I think Firaq was a very special film in terms of my association with Nandita Das, in terms of the character that I played, in terms of my love for that film. I think it’s a very beautiful film. Then I would say Rock On, of course. Rock On was very special. Rock On was a very special film in every way, in terms of a sudden jump in the length of the role, in terms of the character that I got to play. I felt like it was such a real character and nuanced character, which was not always easy to find in more mainstream Bollywood films or Hindi films. So it was a surprise to me and it was nice to see a character that was layered. And the experience of working on that film was incredible. We all had such a great time and such a blast. And then, of course, the success of the film and my character and what it did for my career, obviously. And thereafter, I think I would say Bombay Begums was another big shift and something special to me because, again, it gave me a certain confidence in the work that I was doing.
There are so many outstanding performers from you!
Thank you. I would say Deepa Mehta’s Midnight's Children was another big, big jump because it gave me an opportunity to do films outside of India. And I got to play, again, shoulder the film in a way, work with someone like Deepa Mehta, be a part of a project that was based on Salman Rushdie’s work, and travel around in different festivals with it. So that was my first experience of independent international films and the journey and the world of that, of the universe of that kind of cinema. And another film that was very special to me is Vara: A Blessing, which I did with Khyentse Noorbu, who’s a Buddhist monk and a teacher. And he’s a very special human being. He’s one of my favourite people in the world. And we had a beautiful journey making that film. Again, it was a film where I was playing the central character. The shooting experience was amazing. The crew was from all over. We had a really wonderful time. And yeah, the film had its own journey, but just the process for me and that interaction and that bond has been really special. Then, like I said, Bombay Begums, in terms of being able to play a very real character, I felt like that was a show that had a really authentic mix of the way people, like modern India speak. And the characters also were more nuanced and layered and the show did well. So it was nice to be able to kind of come back into India and then do something, playing one of the leads and for the show to do well and appreciate it. And also got to work with such talented actors around me. So it was all great. And after that, I would say Suitable Boy was very special. Again, because I got to work with Meera Nair, and be a part of another epic book being made into a film project. And just the character, I think Meenakshi was a character I had no confidence that I would be able to play until I did the audition and was told that it was good. And just the opportunity to be able to play a character like that, I don’t think anybody would visualize me playing that kind of a character and neither would I have known where to channel that energy from within me. But that character just helped me bring out a side of myself, both as an actor and in my personality that was really special. And yeah, I think Zwigato again was another film that I feel was a very, very special character. And coming back to working with Nandita again was also really lovely to work a second time with a filmmaker that you work with right in the beginning of their career and your career. So that was very special. And just also Pratima is a very, very beautiful, sunshiny character. And now I would say these two, Santosh and Four Years Later, both have been, Four Years Later is an Australian show that I’ve done for Australian television, which is out in Australia right now and should be coming out in India at some point. So yeah, as of now, I would say that’s more than a handful.
I have always felt you have been shortchanged. Don’t you resent it when actors far less talented than you walk by?
I've been asked this question many times. And I have always said that, yes, I feel like for me, I can only base it on my experience of the industry. And I've had, I would say the complete opposite. The first ever audition I did, I got, it was through people that, you know, knew me via, via things just kind of fell in place and nobody, it was not out of any personal connections, but it was just out of an experience of suddenly things aligning and things happening. And the appreciation was very immediate and unconditional from people. I mean, I remember even when I didHoneymoon Travels, where I play a small part, I’m there for maybe two and a half, three scenes. And right after that, when they were casting for Rock On, and I had auditioned, in my mind, the idea was, why would you give somebody who played such a tiny part, such a massive part in another film, in the same production house, right? Because you think that people have these ideas that, no, you’re a secondary actor or a theatre actor or whatever. And so to give you a part that is that big, would not make sense, again, from the business aspect. But they didn’t have that. They didn’t care. Immediately it was like, no, she’s great. We want her, you know, and that and then for them to also put me out on posters, take me for all the promotions. I felt very, very, very welcome in the industry from everyone, whether it has been Shah Rukh, who I’ve worked with, Kareena, you know, Deepika Imran, Aamir, Kiran, whoever, like all the current has always been very, very sweet, whether I’ve personally worked with them or not. I’ve really found everybody to be so gracious, so loving, Abhishek Aishwarya, Amitabh Bachchan, Jayaji, everybody, Shabana, Boman, all the people that I’ve worked with, of course, but even people that I haven’t worked with, there’s been so much love and respect. And I really feel very welcome in the industry in that sense. And I don’t judge people according to whether they’re giving me roles in their films and giving me leads or not, because I think those things have a larger structural aspect to it. Like I said, it’s a business, they need to have names that are viable, that are going to bring eyeballs to the theatre, that will recover money in some sense. Can there be certain chances taken? Sure. But it is a larger design of those kinds of films. So, and, but it’s changing. And there are a lot of new people coming into the scene.
Is it easier now for an actor like you to access roles that do justice to you?
I feel like there's always scope for change to happen. And more importantly, as I said, for me, it's more about the alignment of things in terms of the right script, the right moment, the right shift and change in pushing yourself, you know, creatively and whatever. So, yeah, I've never actually ever felt like, I felt the opposite, in fact, of feeling like, you know, the industry hasn't been fair to me because I'm an outsider. And I also felt like there's, even in terms of appreciation, both from the public and the industry, there's such little expectation from a new person. And when you don't know anybody, and they come out of nowhere, there's a lot more excitement about them and the thrill around them. And because there was no expectation, right? And in that sense, yeah, the celebration and the celebrating of me or certain outsiders, I feel, has been a lot more than maybe that of the harshness with which kids from the industry have been viewed in their initial films.
Have you played a cop before?
Actually, I have played a cop before in The Last Hour, this show for Amazon that I had done, which was my first OTT long format show called. And there I play a cop, Lipika Ghosh. But I mean, that was a very different kind of cop. She comes from a very different background. She’s much closer to who I am, in a sense. And also, she was not playing a constable. So in this case, Santosh is a very, very different kind of cop coming into that world under very different circumstances and from a very, very different socioeconomic background. But yes, as you said, actually, you know, one doesn’t actually get experience of what it’s like to be a cop in a small town or anywhere for that matter, because we always rely on watching films and things. That’s how we know what that world is like because nobody’s really experienced it up close unless you have a family member that’s been in the police. So the Santosh writer Sandhya Suri had done a lot of research and spent a lot of time with cops in certain areas in the north. And so we did have access to go and spend time with them, especially the female cops and just get a sense of how they are and how they operate and, you know, what they’re just watching them in their daily activities. And that really helped because that is actually quite contrary to the way it ends up being shown in a lot of things. There’s a kind of nonchalance to everything because it’s their everyday life. So that was something that was very interesting to watch and see and observe. But the advantage was also that she, Santosh is a character that is learning the ropes as she’s going along and is figuring it out.
How do you view your journey so far as an actor?
I think there is a very clear sense of gratitude in my mind because my ambition is very specific in terms of what I want to feel and how I want to grow as an actor and who are the kind of people and the kind of projects that I want to associate with. So in that sense, I feel like I have got everything and more in a sense of what I wanted to achieve. And I have enjoyed the aspects of growing and expanding in ways that I would never imagine, working in different languages, in different countries, playing, you know, characters like Santosh or the character I played in Under Construction, where you are kind of shouldering the entire film, travelling to different festivals, you know, showcasing your film, meeting other filmmakers, collaborating in ways with people, with stories and characters that are unusual. So for me, I think I've, and I've worked with really every amazing artiste there is to work with in India, in a sense, you know, I mean, of course, there are many that I haven't, but you know, I've ticked off so many people off my list in that sense. And to me, that's a privilege. And all these things are not things where I've had been a part of the hustle in, in terms of, you know, going and socializing, networking, reaching out to people constantly having a PR machinery, having managers that are constantly trying to put a foot in the door or put your name out there somewhere or doing events and ads. I haven't done any of that. So plus, I was, you know, away from the country for four years where I was living somewhere else. And before that, I was away from the industry more or less in between shoots and travels for my international films where, so eight years, I was kind of not even fully around in, you know, in India and still to be able to get the kind of works that I've got, which are associated with bigger platforms like a Netflix or an Amazon and playing leads in shows where you would imagine that people, you know, there are many more capable, more than capable, I would say bigger names. And since this industry works so much on names and eyeballs and the business aspect of it, I feel like I've still managed to somehow get that opportunity based on I don't know what, but, you know, based on some amount of merit, talent, goodwill, you know, love appreciation that I have from the people in the industry. And I'm really proud of my journey. And I'm very happy with it.
So fulfilled as an actor?
I'd never ever feel like, oh, I could have, should have got better and should have been somewhere else. I still have a lot of ambition and I wish to grow and do a lot more. I think when I was younger, I was scared to also be a part of something very big. You know, Rock On was a bit of a taste of it. But, you know, you were playing a smaller part but still had the kind of fame and attention I got with Rock On. I wasn't fully ready to embrace that. Had it grown exponentially at that point, I think I would not have been able to even handle it. Whereas today, I feel like I'm ready for a hundred times more bigger things than that, and I have it in me to be able to handle it. So now my dreams and ambitions are about being able to also experience that level of expansion where you are a part of massive projects and massive successes. And, you know, your worth and your value is increased not just by doing things that are at the cost of what you believe in artistically, but by being able to be a part of projects that are artistically and creatively fulfilling, but have that scale and, you know, reach to make you viable in an economic way as well.