"I wanted to be a lot of things, but definitely not an actor,” says Shefali Shah, recalling a role she played as a 10-year-old in a Gujarati play that set her journey – first as a theatre actor, then a TV star, and now a film actor with a National Award and an International Emmy Award nomination under her belt. Shah, who was in the city, continues, “There was no plan of action about what I would do, whatever work was offered to me, I said ‘yes’ if I found it exciting.”
According to Shah, this finely-tuned instinct to spot a meaningful role has been her guiding light, with her work in recent films and shows being well received – be it the stern cop in Delhi Crime, a supportively vengeful mother with impeccable comedic timing in Darlings, a bereaved one in Jalsa, or a deeply vulnerable woman with early onset dementia in Three of Us. Among them, Delhi Crime is what Shah considers the turning point. “Professionally, it became a turning point for my career…till then, I was getting supporting parts. Suddenly, people saw it and said, ‘She can be a lead!’ In a big way, it was also path-breaking for the fact that it’s led by a female who’s not a conventional – young and pretty heroine,” she says, adding that playing ‘Madam sir’ Vartika Chaturvedi, had a personal impact too. “It gave me a lot of confidence because, until then, I wasn’t even sure I was resonating with audience,” she says.
Hailing from Mumbai and mainly having acted in Bollywood films, many may not know that she has a deep-rooted connection to the state, through her father, a Mangalurean. Shah has fond memories of summers spent in the coastal city and remembering the mouth-watering taste of a quintessential dish, she says, “I remember kori roti. It’s one of my favourite foods in the world!”
It was, in a way, her passion for food that led her to a short stint as restaurateur in 2022 when she ventured into the F&B business with her out outlet ‘Jalsa’ in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad . The outlets have since shut shop and Shah is frank about why it didn’t work. “It was a collaboration between us and restaurateurs but there was nothing we could contribute to run it. I don’t know how to run a restaurant so it didn’t make sense.” Any future step into the food business will be through her two sons, now in their 20s and venturing into the F&B scene. “It’s a great combination because we all love travelling, we love food. Whatever they do is theirs and not mine, but I am going to be a support system for them,” she smiles.
Oh, so much fun!
On working with stars like Alia Bhatt in Darlings and Vidya Balan in Jalsa, vastly different films, Shah is all smiles, saying, “Darlings was so much fun…there were just days when we’re laughing, laughing, and laughing. People had to say, ‘Calm down, we need to finish the day’”. She adds, “Jalsa was an intense film and we did not have a lot of time together but Vidya…I admire her tremendously. I haven’t seen anyone being so comfortable and secure in her positioning [while shooting scenes].”