Shahana Goswami
Five years after moving to Paris, actor Shahana Goswami is back in Mumbai and she says the decision was triggered by consecutive interesting projects demanding her to be in the city. Goswami, who has worked in films like “Rock On”, “Ra.One” and “Firaaq”, moved to Paris in 2015, where she starred in a couple of short films.
The actor also featured in the acclaimed “Tu Hai Mera Sunday” (2016) and Manoj Bajpayee starrer “Gali Guliyan” in 2019, while she was based in Paris. But Goswami found it more feasible to shift to Mumbai this year with the offer of three web series. In an interview with PTI, Goswami said she didn’t move to France particularly looking for better work but to “travel, explore and learn different things.”
“I was doing international, independent projects which weren’t necessarily shot in India or with an Indian cast and crew. So I didn’t see the necessity of living in Mumbai. But I decided to move back because I started getting projects—three webseries— which demanded me to be here.
“I realised I’ll have to be here more than six months in a year so I didn’t see Paris as my future anymore. I am happy about it, I’ll go wherever my work or life takes me. My good work has brought me and I’m extremely excited,” she added.
Goswami is currently seen on Mira Nair’s drama “A Suitable Boy”. An official adaptation of acclaimed author Vikram Seth’s classic novel of the same name, the six-part drama started streaming on Netflix last week.
On the show, Goswami plays Meenakshi Chatterji Mehra- an unapologetic woman living on her own terms in the India of 1950s. The actor saw Meenakshi as a fascinating woman who had an inherent aspirational quality of being comfortable with who she was. “What I love about her is how she is so unapologetic. Often people are unapologetic in an arrogant way but she’s like that organically. She’s a woman who could live on her own terms and didn’t care how society viewed her.
“Today she would be considered a free spirited woman but maybe back then she made people uncomfortable. In the series, she doesn’t go through any kind of growth because she’s already where she wants to be. That’s a great place to be in.” The project marks her first collaboration with Nair and Goswami said though the show has a rich ensemble, the filmmaker works in a way where every character, irrespective of the screen time, matters.
“She loves all her characters. That showed in the way she interacted with us on sets and even how it’s projected on screen. With Meenakshi, we would go hysterical laughing because it was such a joy to play her,” Goswami said. The 34-year-old actor said Nair comes with an incredible amount of “energy and focus” on set which is almost “shocking.” Goswami observed that “The Namesake” director never gets bogged down and operates from a steady determination to achieve her vision.
“Every time we went on sets, we would marvel at her choice of actors. She has hand picked the entire team. We were surprised how in-sync all were with each other, despite being such a huge cast and crew. She knows what she wants and who can deliver it,” she added. The series stars Tanya Maniktala, Ishaan Khatter, Tabu, Rasika Dugal and Ram Kapoor among others. PTI JUR BK BK
