Beyond The Screen: Huma Qureshi & Shefali Shah On Life, Choices & Identity

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Welcome to another episode of Express Conversations, a podcast where
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eminent voices from the world of politics, governance, sports, business
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and arts talk to us about their life, work and
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issues that really matter. In this episode, we will hear
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from Indian actors Huma Kurashi and Shafali Shah. Our guests
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are in conversation with Shubra Gupta of The Indian Express.
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In this interview, whom I and Shefali open up about
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the choices that shape their journeys both on and off screen.
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They share honest and insightful reflections on acting, films, representation,
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identity and more.
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Both you, ladies, are people who actually work their way
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to where you are without any help, without anything at all.
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So welcome to both of you.
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And I'm sure we're going to have a great conversation
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around this. So because Netflix is here and you are
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with Netflix right at this moment, I'm going to start
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with Deli Crime Part three, which Homa joins you as
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Madam Sir and she's the antagonist. How many people here
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are either watching it or have watched Deli Crime? Okay,
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that's like, thank you guys, A lot of people.
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So I remember one because of you. Guys.
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Ah, so yeah, So let me ask you.
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Let me start by asking you when you started when
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Richie Metta came to you with this idea of you
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playing this cop.
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What was the first thing that came to your head.
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Hi, good evening everyone. It's an absolute honor and pleasure
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to be here. Very inspiring story, Citu. I love this
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entire setting. It's beautiful and it's just wonderful being here. Imrin,
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You're a darling. When Rushi came to me, I said
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yes to this project in less than five minutes. When
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the Nailpaia case had happened, all of us had one question.
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I had it too, that why is no one doing
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anything about this? And when I heard the script, I
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realized there was somebody doing something about it and it
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was a woman. So there was no way I was
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going to say no for that. The lady who cracked
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the case, man Chaya Sharma, a complete rockstar, and I
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had the opportunity of playing that part and in some
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small way feel like, Okay, there is hope, there is
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someone who's out there protecting us. And to step into
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those shoes, which were very very big, has been overwhelming
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and just humbling. So there was no way I would
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have said no for it. Really it was a no brainer, right.
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What about you, Huma, when people came to you, I mean,
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when Netflix came to you with this one, did you
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at any point say, oh my god, no, because people
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are going to be petrified when they look at me.
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Well, Douse, you play a hard.
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Nosed, open trafficker, and that is the really one of
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the hardest things that for an actor to pull off
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without actually being hated.
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Absolutely good evening, everyone lovely to be here.
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And I think I've just been a fan of Deli
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Crime and I've been saying this from day one. So
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when a pool with the producer called me, I mean
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I thought they offering me a cops part because of,
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you know, the kind of work that I do. But
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she said, no, Wabe, this is something different. This is
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actually the antagonist, and I had never imagined. But then
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the moment she said, I was like, actually that makes
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a lot of sense.
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You know.
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And of course I met Tanoja read the script and
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it was really dark, and a part of me was
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really excited about doing something so different and so challenging.
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You know, actors often like we get boxed into ideas
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of by ourselves also, not just the audiences or like producers,
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but we also start believing that, Okay, this is the
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kind of work I want to do.
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So it's nice to be challenged.
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Sometimes it's nice to play somebody with zero model compass
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who has no excuse for being so terrible. I mean
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she does actually in a way, because I mean we'll
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come to that at some point, but just someone who's
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out and out black, not gray, not peach, not pink,
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but just black. And I think also as a woman
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doing that, because you never see women gangsters in that
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sense of bad people.
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You always see them.
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As they go naked peach, one hot girl is standing,
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and I thought it'd be nice to just play like,
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you know, the baddie for a change, the.
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Non hot girl sing lado scary that is.
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I mean, that was like I wanted to do, like
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a like a nursery rhyme, almost like it was my
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version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
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Yeah, you know, because.
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In my head, all the learning and the empathy and
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the understanding and who I am and what I really
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stand for, and like, okay, I'm going to use that
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to the opposite. So if you're going to sing a
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lullaby to a child to comfort them. This is how
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she's comforting them by doing lad because she knows what
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she's doing, you know. So I mean I don't know
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when I say this. Also, it makes me like sort
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of shrink, But yeah, that was a thought behind.
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Right, uh Chafanie.
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I wanted to ask you, uh, you know, are you
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one of those actors who actually decides that, Okay, if
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I have to play a cop, I'm going to like
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sit and talk to a real cop. Because I also
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know that many years ago you spent some time in
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a prison when you were doing it. Well, you visited
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a prison when you were doing a.
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Role, so this was years ago.
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I think it was a Rahul Boast film, if I'm
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not mistaken. So yeah, I wanted to know, do you
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actually do you know sort of in your when when
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you are prepping, what are you thinking of? Are you
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thinking of talking to real life? This is completely out
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of your own imagination.
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So if anybody had respect for me because I am
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a method actor, I'm going to drop that right now.
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I never went to a prison.
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To study anything, So I'm going to be very very
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honest about it. I don't know what what film, what
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is interview. I was reading not mine.
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Please say it wasn't mine. Please. I couldn't be so delusional.
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Researching okay, yesterday it came up in something of mine.
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Okay.
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So to set the record straight, no, I did not
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go to the prison. I had the honor of meeting
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Chaiamam Chaia Shelma briefly for two hours. But it's impossible
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to uh, to soak in somebody's entire personality in two hours.
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It's not possible. But I did.
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I think obviously the model compass was right there. All
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of us felt completely appalled with what had happened, and
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we wanted to solve it. Really luckily and gratefully for
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us had the power to do it.
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So I did meet her.
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But at the same time, Bartka had to be her
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own person, and there was a script in front of me,
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which was a solid blueprint, which she meant that I
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had taken six years to research on and write.
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So it was he made it very easy.
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And then it's also one of the most wonderful things
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Richie had told me when he first met me is
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he said, I don't want an actor, I want a collaborator.
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And I've written this, but now I want you to
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take it and make it your own.
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And that's how it happened.
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Of course, there is a lot of thought, emotion, heart souls,
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Studying is the wrong word, reading, questioning, dissecting every word,
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everything that goes into it. But I, and with all
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due respect, I don't believe I don't follow the path
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of method acting. The more time I got with someone,
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I would be highly obliged, because it would be only
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wonderful to soaking in, you know, the sense of someone.
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But I let at some point of time the instinct takeover.
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I want to second that, actually, because a lot has
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been said about actors and the method and all of that,
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and sometimes it makes for great interviews, you know, and
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it makes for great like headlines henikayat jail you know, yeah, many.
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Depressed, Okay jail gay.
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You know, so that there's your headline right there, right,
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that's the next clickbait. And it sounds also really cool.
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But I feel, actually what chef said, it's script common sense.
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Like out director kebat So no, just come little prepared,
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and I think the most important and I've seen her
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also do it just be in the moment, you know,
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I think the magical hour for all actors is between
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action and cut and what you do in the middle,
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not before and not after. But much has been said
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and conversations we had about like prep Katha, yeah, about darkness.
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You know, No, just because I had to kill somebody
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in a film, I don't actually start killing people, you know,
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just because I'm romancing a hero, I don't have to
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have an affair with him.
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I'm going to take you back to your beginning sort of.
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You came into the movies through advertising, right, commercials and
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was it? So she said, you have potentials, so come
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and give you a three film deal.
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There was this casting director called Tia. I don't even
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know if she still does casting anymore. Who aud she does?
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So Tia, I love you because she cast me for
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this and we're not in touch anymore. For this ad
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with mister Amil Khan for a mobile ad, it was
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a four day shoot and buy in punch. So very happily.
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I've gone there on the second day of shoot and
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this was, by the ways first ad. This is the
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first time he started directing an ad. But I had
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done now by now, I'd done ten ads, so I
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was quite I thought of myself as the DELI girl
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a veteran.
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So of course I walked in.
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I've done ten ads and uh and I had a
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lot of makeup on which is the ad? Whatever is appropriate.
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So he's come and he's like, what is this? So
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I said, A I swear this has happened.
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I swear.
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I think maybe that's when he saw thought cast relate
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or yay gangs gang member to I literally said, and
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now I think, I'm like, what guts but that but
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or that GARGHI college enthusiasm and that deadly spirit.
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And on the second day you told me, I think
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I'm going to cast you in making this movie. I'm
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going to cast you.
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And again I one more one line that I've given.
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I said, I have just come. I to struggle a
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little bit.
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How you saying it like that? Like but you know
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what I mean?
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So anyway, that's how Gangs of Us it happened, and
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I got paid. I keep saying it again and again,
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sixty five thousand piece. There was no three film deal,
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but it was the best experience of my life and
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I would do it all over again for like no money,
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but just to have that experience, to work with all
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those amazing people all over again, I think that's that
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that film has really changed my life and has changed
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I mean Indian cinema in so many different ways, like
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by giving it so much talent.
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So yeah, whateverd for.
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So fally, I want to ask you what got you
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into the movies. I know that your journey from television.
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I think at that time Indian television was going through
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a renaissance which I haven't seen happen after that, because
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you acted in some of some of the early shows
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that were fantastic, including Banneghiya Pnibat. Impact was something I
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think it was ahead of its time in the way
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it presented you as a woman who actually was going
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to be very happy, not being happy in an unhappy marriage,
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and that was a radical role.
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For that time.
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So talk us through a little bit about that time
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of your coming into the entertainment industry and how television
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was your first stop, so to speak, and from there how.
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You went into the movies.
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Long question, but so I'm allowed a long answer. I
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came into acting very incidentally. It was not a plan.
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It was definitely not on the agenda. It wasn't even
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one of those dreams you dreamed that you know, I'm
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going to be a part in the Miss universe, or
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I'm going to be an actor.
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I wasn't being unrealistic like that.
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So one of my teachers had seen some photographs that
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my mother used to click. This is when I was
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ten years old and her husband was a playwright for
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Gujati Theater, and you know, they came and asked my
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mom if I would be a part of that play.
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She said, I don't think she's going to be able
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to pull it off, but you can try it. And
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I did that play. It was based on omen, so
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there's this child who's possessed. I think I fitted very well,
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and then there was a lot I did. The play,
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got great reviews. That was the end of it. And
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then when I was getting admission into a college, I
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got it also because I had all these reviews and
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that college particularly had a very very strong dramatics faculty.
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And then I started doing intercollegeate and that landed me
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some place. So I did theater and then somebody recommended
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my name somewhere else or whatever, and then I landed
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up doing television. It was really just happening. And I
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think after maybe six months or.
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A year or whatever, you know.
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I said, I do this every day I get paid
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seven hundred bucks or something like for a show.
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This must be my job. And that's how I just
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went into it.
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I'm glad I was a part of television when it
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was it really held a lot of heart, soul and
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metal because sadly, and I'm not trying to, you know,
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pass a judgment on anything. But later on, when I
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started getting offers much later, it was about meeting the
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TRP and the deadline.
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You know, we just have to do it. There was
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nothing fresh there once. There wasn't a beginning, middle and end.
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Luckily, when I did television, there was a proper story,
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great characters, and that show did have an end at
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some point of time, so you could do something else
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with your life, unlike like just keep doing that for
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the rest of your life kind of a thing.
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So that is And yes, like you said.
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That got me a lot of It got me a
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lot of love because you watched this person every single day,
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you know, in your living room, which I feel really
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obliged for. And then I think, just as a somebody said,
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ye a film CUTO, why don't you meet X Y Z,
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or they said why don't you you know, audition this girl,
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and I did Dranguila, which I like to skip, and
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then Satya happened, and then Monsoon Wedding happened, and then just.
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Yeah.
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So let me talk to you very quickly about both
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of my favorite role, the Satya and that absolutely fantastic
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conversation that you all have at the dining table. You're
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talking about Chickilee and Monsoon wedding, which is one of
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the darkest characters, and I think your character plays a
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very very crucial role in how the movie pans out
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and the way it turned all the Shahdi movies of
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Bollywood on their head because it was Monsoon, a season
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where weddings don't really happen. But there is Mira's film
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and Declan's camera has barished all through, and there is
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Shefali who comes in and I'm talking to you at
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the third person. The Shefali's character comes in and completely
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changes the tone and the tenor of the film. Do
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you remember what that doing that role felt like? Because
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it was a I think it's one of the most
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unusual roles that has been played by an actor.
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So when I first when Mira called me for the
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part Mira and Iyer, she called me for it, and
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she spoke to me in Hindi and she said, muje
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patta you know English or no, because I'd done Satiya
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and that's what.
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She had seen. So I was like, oh, great, that's wonderful.
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And I read the script and even though I did
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not have, let's say, the understanding that I do have today,
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there was one thing that stood out, and that was,
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you know, every every single woman has probably gone through
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something like this. After the film released, so many women
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girls have said it became a It gave us voice.
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You know, something we never spoke about came out. I
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remember a lot of our friends and we were sitting
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and having a conversation and every single one had had
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an experience. The extent of it varied, whether it was
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a cat call, whether it was somebody you know, touching
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you inappropriately, or somebody from the family behaving badly. Everyone's
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had it, just that there was no voice for it.
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And monsoon Wedding became that voice. You know.
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I don't remember a film before that where it was
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so loudly out there, spoken out, and not just because
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of what Ria does, but it's also because of the
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stand her father takes, her uncle takes. You know, there's
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a beautiful line in the film which Nasibai says that
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I will protect my children from myself if I have to,
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which is just beautiful. I get goosebumps when I say it.
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So that is what the film did. And till date,
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I remember I.
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Have to say this. Till date.
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I think a year or two years ago, I was
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in Delhi. We had had one of those night shoots
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and I I came back to the hotel. It was
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early morning or something, and this beautiful, handsome couple walked
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up to me. I think the lady must have been
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seventies and the gentleman was around eighty.
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Or whatever, walked up to me.
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The woman, the lady just held onto my hand without
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saying a word, and the gentleman was speaking to me,
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and he said, I'm a colonel and whatever whatever, and
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I have seen your film and we love your work.
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And she just wouldn't let my hand go, and she
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had tears in her eyes. So I didn't know exactly
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what to do except just hold onto her hand. And
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he said, when she was a child, she went through
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this and she could not speak about it until she's home.
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Onsoon wedding and I get goosebumps when I say this,
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and it was.
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Just I think I wouldn't.
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Say it is gratifying because I wouldn't wish this on anyone,
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But it did give a voice to a lot of people.
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It gave that strength of I don't have to keep
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quiet and it's not my shame to carry, you know.
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So I think it played a very very important part
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in my life, in creatively and even personally and emotionally.
355
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Yes, And I think it also added to the cultural
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conversation around that whole taboo subject. No one spoke about it,
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and I think part of some impact. A lot of
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your own films have been very interesting to me because
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they've actually opened up doors which were closed up until then,
360
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including dildher Anudo, which I will come to you later.
361
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But I wanted to Huma in Gangs of Whippur when
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you're sitting there with Navazudin's character and your character says
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that famous permission permission Tolenaa?
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Was that your line?
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I wish, Well, that's.
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The biggest fight Navasa and I have because I made
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it mine, but it happened to him, and I think
368
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it's kind of crazy, right, Like sometimes even if you
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wanted to sort of go back in time and write
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history and write your own career. I don't think I
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would have ever imagined that I could have written a
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better start to it, that the first line I'll ever
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say would be permis and.
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You know, Sbrah.
375
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When when that film released, I was very nervous about
376
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it because I'm I'm barely there in the film in
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a two part series, in two part film, I'm there
378
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for probably what twenty five minutes. So I really wasn't
379
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shocking What's going to happen to that film, you know?
380
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And so I would the people who knew around me
381
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knew about it or whatever, and we were getting some
382
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special treatment that I'm being launched or whatever. But and
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so when part one released, I'm talking about theatrically, and
384
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that scene became a thing.
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I didn't know what hit me.
386
00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:44.000
I didn't And that's when you understand the power of
387
00:20:44.119 --> 00:20:46.839
movies and films and the reach that they have and
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how they become part of popular conversation.
389
00:20:50.119 --> 00:20:51.640
Was tampe I had just.
390
00:20:51.559 --> 00:20:53.960
Sort of joined Twitter, and suddenly people started following me,
391
00:20:54.119 --> 00:20:56.559
and they were people were tweeting to me and writing
392
00:20:56.599 --> 00:21:00.440
to me, and you know, having a conversation about me
393
00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:02.559
and third person and like tragging me, and I'm like,
394
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oh this, and it's very surreal to sort of have that,
395
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you know. And I would just sit at home on
396
00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:09.119
my couch and just be reading things and like, oh,
397
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this is this, this is what it feels like. Right,
398
00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:15.559
but it's really magical to sort of go through that.
399
00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:20.039
And yeah, I think I'm happy that And maybe in
400
00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:22.440
a way it sort of was sort of showing me
401
00:21:22.519 --> 00:21:25.279
my parts in terms of work. I would later also
402
00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:27.720
do I think that line in a way sort of
403
00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:28.880
sealed my fate.
404
00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:31.759
Yeah, And I think you know it was. It was
405
00:21:31.799 --> 00:21:32.599
said in jest.
406
00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:35.599
It's kind of like it's a throwaway line, but it
407
00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:40.319
became so much a part of permission, about consent, about
408
00:21:40.359 --> 00:21:44.000
the whole thing, about something that most people don't even
409
00:21:44.039 --> 00:21:46.759
talk about in mainstream center. So I think part of it,
410
00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:51.160
your roles are segued into It's become a popular meme
411
00:21:51.319 --> 00:21:53.839
and I become a fact. I feel it's so important.
412
00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:55.079
That's what it taught me as well.
413
00:21:55.160 --> 00:22:00.279
Right, Sometimes really heavy things or really important things don't
414
00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:02.400
necessarily need to be said in a heavy and an
415
00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:06.599
important and a self aware way. It's important that didn't
416
00:22:06.599 --> 00:22:10.119
go the younger people that they actually understand.
417
00:22:09.640 --> 00:22:10.559
And talk about it.
418
00:22:10.839 --> 00:22:13.039
But what happens we think if you don't, we need
419
00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:15.279
to speak a certain way if you're talking about serious things.
420
00:22:15.799 --> 00:22:22.480
So the people didn't life koye actually because kids are
421
00:22:22.519 --> 00:22:25.599
not watching documentaries, kids are not reading articles. Kids like
422
00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:29.440
they're watching what popular music, watching a film, you're watching reels. Basically,
423
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they're watching reals today. So I'm saying today, I'm happy
424
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to know it's a real. So maybe somebody will send
425
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to a girlfriendor a boyfriend and they'll maybe learn to
426
00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:38.000
laugh about it, but maybe it make make them also
427
00:22:38.039 --> 00:22:38.839
think about something.
428
00:22:38.920 --> 00:22:40.039
It's definitely did.
429
00:22:40.200 --> 00:22:43.160
And in fact, that brings me to my question to
430
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both of you, and I'm going to ask you Shapali
431
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your guild her new role.
432
00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:51.480
Role again, it was a role which was.
433
00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:53.920
I think a lot of us will remember that one
434
00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:57.240
scene of yours in front of the mirror, right It
435
00:22:57.400 --> 00:22:59.759
is I think one of the seminal scenes in that.
436
00:22:59.720 --> 00:23:01.920
Will and it stays with you.
437
00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:06.119
It doesn't, it doesn't go away at all, and it's
438
00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:10.519
so much move It's so moving to see a woman
439
00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:14.960
being so vulnerable and so naked in front of the camera,
440
00:23:15.400 --> 00:23:18.160
what brought you to that moment? And I then I'm
441
00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:21.079
going to broaden the conversation a little bit, but please
442
00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:22.279
do talk about that one.
443
00:23:22.359 --> 00:23:24.880
Should I talking about the moment where she's ready and
444
00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:25.960
he's standing there?
445
00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:27.279
Yes, that one? Yes?
446
00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:27.880
Absolutely?
447
00:23:28.119 --> 00:23:28.240
Uh.
448
00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:34.000
Sadly, how many of us have actually gone through it?
449
00:23:34.119 --> 00:23:36.200
A lot, a lot of us, a lot of us.
450
00:23:36.759 --> 00:23:40.759
And uh, of course she was in a really bad
451
00:23:41.480 --> 00:23:46.799
marriage and situation. But a lot of people, even if
452
00:23:46.839 --> 00:23:52.400
they're in a healthy relationship, forget to appreciate. And after
453
00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:56.000
a point of time, it's not so much about am
454
00:23:56.000 --> 00:24:00.640
I looking pretty? It's about you saw me? You know,
455
00:24:00.759 --> 00:24:03.759
every relationship. I mean I read a very I think
456
00:24:03.799 --> 00:24:06.880
I saw a film or I saw a clip where
457
00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:09.920
you know, this actress is saying, do you know why
458
00:24:09.960 --> 00:24:10.799
people get married?
459
00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:12.680
Because they want to be seen?
460
00:24:13.480 --> 00:24:16.960
Because they want their entire life to be documented in
461
00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:18.559
somebody else's eyes.
462
00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:21.079
And that's what that moment is about.
463
00:24:21.640 --> 00:24:25.880
Yes, Nila Merra is an apathetic marriage, but it was
464
00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:29.519
actually about that that we we just don't appreciate enough
465
00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:31.599
and all we want is to be seen.
466
00:24:32.359 --> 00:24:35.880
So that's what you asked me, right, absolutely?
467
00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:38.119
All right?
468
00:24:38.200 --> 00:24:42.200
So now I wanted to actually broaden the conversation from
469
00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:44.960
your specific roles to though I will ask you, but
470
00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:49.400
MAHRANI two about the fact that right now maybe the
471
00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:55.799
best time for women oriented roles to be out, not
472
00:24:56.039 --> 00:24:58.799
in cinema but on the web series. So what has
473
00:24:58.839 --> 00:25:03.400
the existence of platforms which are ott over the top
474
00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:08.319
done too? I think choices and opportunities that are opening
475
00:25:08.440 --> 00:25:09.519
up right now.
476
00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:10.039
As we speak.
477
00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:12.279
I want to take it first.
478
00:25:12.440 --> 00:25:15.640
Yeah, everything, absolutely.
479
00:25:15.640 --> 00:25:19.119
I think I remember doing a show called Ela with Netflix,
480
00:25:19.480 --> 00:25:22.880
which was I think the first female forward sort of
481
00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:25.200
show that they had put out, and it was a
482
00:25:25.240 --> 00:25:28.880
wonderful experience, and I worked with a wonderful, wonderful director
483
00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:32.920
called de who I think working with her really changed
484
00:25:32.920 --> 00:25:36.279
something inside me, you know, because for the first time
485
00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:38.759
there was somebody who told me that I didn't need
486
00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:41.559
to It was very radically for me at that point.
487
00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:44.240
I didn't need a hero. I could be the hero
488
00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:47.079
of this whole piece and the camera could be literally
489
00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:50.799
like an inch away from my nose. I didn't need
490
00:25:50.839 --> 00:25:54.200
to wear makeup to look beautiful or to feel secure,
491
00:25:54.519 --> 00:25:57.880
and I was enough, you know. She was the first
492
00:25:57.880 --> 00:25:59.720
person who made me feel like I was just enough
493
00:25:59.799 --> 00:26:04.599
and it was just it's like a little like a
494
00:26:04.680 --> 00:26:06.640
not like like a like a like a switch inside
495
00:26:06.680 --> 00:26:08.839
you that turns and suddenly you feel like, oh, you
496
00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:10.839
see the world a little differently. And that's what I
497
00:26:10.839 --> 00:26:13.680
think working on that show and that experience gave me,
498
00:26:14.519 --> 00:26:17.119
and I think, of course then many many other and
499
00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:20.279
much bigger successes followed, but that was the starting point.
500
00:26:20.279 --> 00:26:21.519
If I really look back at.
501
00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:24.119
It Pray's book before.
502
00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:27.200
I had, I had, and I think what has gone
503
00:26:27.240 --> 00:26:29.960
on to happen, whether it's Netflix or any of the
504
00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:33.480
other platforms, is that they're slowly, slowly sort of rejecting
505
00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:38.480
this conventional wisdom about theatrical business only being led by
506
00:26:38.519 --> 00:26:41.599
men and hence only those films will get greenlit.
507
00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:42.519
About those it's.
508
00:26:42.359 --> 00:26:44.920
It's like a it's like a circle, right, because you
509
00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:46.839
feel like only men go and watch movies.
510
00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:49.000
Enough, women don't actually go out and watch movies.
511
00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:50.920
So those subjects are what get made, and there's a
512
00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:53.640
certain lens and a gaze to it, and that that
513
00:26:53.799 --> 00:26:57.839
thing will never stop. However, having said that, today, uh,
514
00:26:59.160 --> 00:27:01.160
you know, the O T these space has shown time
515
00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:04.519
and again that there's a ready audience, there's a captive audience.
516
00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:06.279
It consists of women and men.
517
00:27:06.680 --> 00:27:09.640
I don't think shows like Deli Crime Amarani are only
518
00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:12.000
seen by women. They're seen by everybody, and they're loved
519
00:27:12.039 --> 00:27:17.160
by everybody. Those numbers speak for themselves. Hence, if to
520
00:27:17.559 --> 00:27:19.400
borrow Deli Crime was to be a film, I'm sure
521
00:27:19.400 --> 00:27:21.640
a lot of people would go and watch it, you know.
522
00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:26.039
But again it's it's because there's so many gatekeepers, you know,
523
00:27:26.119 --> 00:27:27.880
from the time of film is made to the time
524
00:27:27.960 --> 00:27:30.319
it's released that actually, and they come with a lot
525
00:27:30.359 --> 00:27:34.839
of buyers and a lot of traditional understanding of how
526
00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:36.559
the business has been working in the past.
527
00:27:36.599 --> 00:27:38.599
It takes a lot for things to change, and it's
528
00:27:38.599 --> 00:27:40.839
really unfortunate, but it is true.
529
00:27:40.839 --> 00:27:44.839
But definitely, players like on streamers like Netflix are changing
530
00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:47.599
the game. They're showing us and hopefully one day somebody
531
00:27:47.640 --> 00:27:49.400
will read that Excel sheet and be like, no, we
532
00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:50.519
can do things differently.
533
00:27:51.160 --> 00:27:52.279
Yeah, Pali, what about you?
534
00:27:53.000 --> 00:27:57.359
A lot of your recent work is on on the
535
00:27:57.400 --> 00:28:02.680
streaming platforms, including the I think I mean Asharun's uh
536
00:28:03.640 --> 00:28:07.000
the Three of Us, which was on Netflix, and what
537
00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:09.039
was the other one which you had done with Alni
538
00:28:09.160 --> 00:28:13.720
Richkabi Once again once again, yes and now they're so
539
00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:19.559
do you think that theaters are no longer receptive to
540
00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:22.519
stories with your character driven.
541
00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:25.839
Are they only ten pole you know sort of.
542
00:28:28.079 --> 00:28:31.319
Uh, you know, the kind of big budget ten pole
543
00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:34.680
event films that have now crowding our theaters.
544
00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:37.920
On the contrary, I think it's kind of changing now.
545
00:28:38.519 --> 00:28:43.680
Sadly, theaters were limited to these big budget films earlier.
546
00:28:44.240 --> 00:28:46.880
I genuinely believe that going to a theater watching a
547
00:28:46.920 --> 00:28:49.400
film with your family and friends eating a samosa is
548
00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:51.599
a culture in our country. Like cricket, it can never
549
00:28:51.680 --> 00:28:54.799
go away, and it should never go away. Having said that,
550
00:28:54.839 --> 00:28:57.319
there are stories that need to be told. You know,
551
00:28:57.359 --> 00:29:00.680
if you go back to sixties seventies, there were so
552
00:29:00.799 --> 00:29:04.599
many films led by women. You talk about Aradhna, Amar
553
00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:10.000
Paim Ghar, guide Anhi, and sadly there came a patch
554
00:29:10.039 --> 00:29:14.519
where a woman became an accessory to the film. Also,
555
00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:17.720
you just had to be tall, pretty thin, and between
556
00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:19.400
eighteen to twenty.
557
00:29:18.839 --> 00:29:20.319
Five if you were lucky.
558
00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:24.799
Besides that, they had no space for anyone, and the
559
00:29:24.839 --> 00:29:30.119
ott platforms changed it. It started giving full fledged roles,
560
00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:33.400
stories which you may not have heard and which may
561
00:29:33.400 --> 00:29:35.880
not conventionally be fitting.
562
00:29:35.559 --> 00:29:37.920
The box office or whatever it required.
563
00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:42.400
And so many creative people, and I can say that,
564
00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:47.720
I mean so many creative people who always probably who
565
00:29:47.799 --> 00:29:50.880
have been brilliant, but they never got the opportunity or
566
00:29:50.920 --> 00:29:55.119
all the compliments never translated into work. You know, when
567
00:29:55.160 --> 00:29:57.200
I see a Navas, I see a jed Deep, I
568
00:29:57.240 --> 00:30:01.680
see a Rashkumarao, I see Wija, and I feel, oh
569
00:30:01.720 --> 00:30:02.960
my god, I'm so.
570
00:30:02.839 --> 00:30:03.920
Happy there where they are.
571
00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:09.160
They deserve this and rightfully so so I think the
572
00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:14.200
OTD platform gave that opportunity, not just to actors, but
573
00:30:14.279 --> 00:30:17.839
even to writers, to directors. There were stories and you
574
00:30:17.880 --> 00:30:19.799
know that a lot of people must must have been
575
00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:22.400
shut up, like shut down saying this is not going.
576
00:30:22.400 --> 00:30:24.640
To work in the theaters.
577
00:30:25.079 --> 00:30:29.480
But my question is still something that I've been observing
578
00:30:29.480 --> 00:30:32.279
over the years, that people will not come into the
579
00:30:32.279 --> 00:30:35.599
movie post COVID, particularly, there has been a sea change
580
00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:38.440
in the way we actually go to the movies. Right,
581
00:30:39.880 --> 00:30:44.880
what about you do? Did people come for Single Selma
582
00:30:44.960 --> 00:30:46.720
as many as you expected to?
583
00:30:47.960 --> 00:30:50.960
So again, I'm glad you actually brought it up, so
584
00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:52.200
thank you. So.
585
00:30:52.240 --> 00:30:55.599
Single Selma is a film that I did. It released
586
00:30:55.599 --> 00:30:58.359
on the thirty first of October, and no, it not
587
00:30:58.440 --> 00:31:02.640
many people got to see it. It wasn't really promoted.
588
00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:05.400
There was no marketing spend on it. I mean not
589
00:31:05.519 --> 00:31:06.960
even like Bare Minimum.
590
00:31:07.400 --> 00:31:08.680
It was no real sort of.
591
00:31:11.279 --> 00:31:15.440
Buzz around it or conversation around it. Because the belief
592
00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:18.000
was QK now is going to come on a streamer
593
00:31:18.400 --> 00:31:20.640
and that whatever's done. So there is no point in
594
00:31:20.680 --> 00:31:23.599
it because of what you said, there's a thinky people
595
00:31:23.640 --> 00:31:29.200
are not really coming into theaters, which I feel what
596
00:31:29.359 --> 00:31:32.400
it's going to do, and that kind of already knowing
597
00:31:32.440 --> 00:31:35.640
it's just going to kill the business because the big
598
00:31:35.720 --> 00:31:38.119
muchI ismore films and the big blockbusters are not going
599
00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:39.160
to sustain the business.
600
00:31:39.319 --> 00:31:41.920
It's the small and the mid sized films that always
601
00:31:41.920 --> 00:31:43.880
have and always will keep the business going.
602
00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:46.200
I don't have the exact metrics, so I don't want
603
00:31:46.200 --> 00:31:48.160
to say something wrong in a platform like this. But
604
00:31:48.240 --> 00:31:50.680
if there were ten thousand, for example, films being made
605
00:31:50.920 --> 00:31:53.519
we are making today in the Hindi film business, half
606
00:31:53.559 --> 00:31:56.920
of that number, it probably doesn't affect me or you know,
607
00:31:57.160 --> 00:31:59.880
share for anybody else, but definitely affects their life. The
608
00:32:00.920 --> 00:32:05.000
daily wage laborers, it's definitely affecting those people. So what's
609
00:32:05.039 --> 00:32:07.200
happening is to trickle down effect, and that is something
610
00:32:07.200 --> 00:32:09.319
we need to really do something about if you want
611
00:32:09.319 --> 00:32:10.400
the business to sustain.
612
00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:13.039
We want stories from all across the country.
613
00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:15.240
We don't only just want to make one kind of
614
00:32:15.240 --> 00:32:16.640
story and one kind of thought.
615
00:32:16.759 --> 00:32:19.160
And you know, and there's nothing wrong in that.
616
00:32:19.240 --> 00:32:22.119
I just feel all kinds of films must be made
617
00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:24.680
so there's a single selma, and especially for somebody like me,
618
00:32:24.880 --> 00:32:27.200
when right now I have a maharani, I have a
619
00:32:27.279 --> 00:32:30.039
daily crime. I had a Jolly Lbs in theaters two
620
00:32:30.079 --> 00:32:32.400
weeks before that, which did about a hundred something. So
621
00:32:32.440 --> 00:32:34.599
in the middle of all this, a small film is coming.
622
00:32:34.640 --> 00:32:36.839
The least one expects is for that to get a
623
00:32:36.920 --> 00:32:39.799
basic level of showcasing. It didn't even get a two
624
00:32:39.839 --> 00:32:43.400
hundred screen release in Andhiri, which is close to where
625
00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:46.000
I live. I live in Juo, so I was checking shows.
626
00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:48.200
There was one show and on theh Hari at two
627
00:32:48.279 --> 00:32:51.839
hundred and fifty bucks a ticket at four thirty So
628
00:32:51.960 --> 00:32:54.240
what are we even talking about? So and it really
629
00:32:54.279 --> 00:32:56.119
broke my heart when I saw that, And of course
630
00:32:56.160 --> 00:32:57.880
I tried to do whatever. There's only that much you
631
00:32:57.920 --> 00:33:01.319
can do when the ships say, but so I feel
632
00:33:01.359 --> 00:33:05.079
like a can you imagine if today a young person
633
00:33:05.119 --> 00:33:07.240
wants to be a director or a producer an actor
634
00:33:07.240 --> 00:33:09.920
in the indie film business. What opportunities do you really
635
00:33:09.960 --> 00:33:12.839
have or what options do you really have? Not very many?
636
00:33:13.279 --> 00:33:16.400
Well, uh, you know you having you raised that so
637
00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:19.559
I can talk about how can you beheld? Agra which
638
00:33:19.640 --> 00:33:22.839
was released last Friday. It didn't get anything at all,
639
00:33:23.720 --> 00:33:26.079
you know, no shows at all when you're talking, and
640
00:33:26.119 --> 00:33:28.079
that was a can I have a film.
641
00:33:27.839 --> 00:33:30.480
That went too I have a film called Bayan which
642
00:33:30.519 --> 00:33:32.680
went to tiff it went to Busan, it's at the
643
00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:35.799
Cairo Film Festival. We still haven't sold it to a streamer.
644
00:33:36.440 --> 00:33:39.240
And my fear is I hope it doesn't happen. I
645
00:33:39.279 --> 00:33:42.279
hope in Charlotte doesn't happen. But if so, if out
646
00:33:42.279 --> 00:33:44.039
of the two or three players that are there, the
647
00:33:44.079 --> 00:33:46.759
major players, if it doesn't get picked up, the producer
648
00:33:46.839 --> 00:33:49.359
will be forced to release in the theater. Then what
649
00:33:49.480 --> 00:33:51.599
happens to a film like that Because it's a small
650
00:33:51.680 --> 00:33:55.079
budget film, it cannot afford and it cannot compete with
651
00:33:55.119 --> 00:33:56.640
the big blockbusters of the world.
652
00:33:57.119 --> 00:33:57.880
So what do you do?
653
00:33:57.920 --> 00:34:00.160
Then it will come, it will go, and he'll say
654
00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:04.519
picture Cellini, but achieved in the r we actually really
655
00:34:04.519 --> 00:34:07.920
connected with it. So what needs to happen fundamentally is
656
00:34:07.920 --> 00:34:11.000
we have to figure out is there a way where
657
00:34:11.039 --> 00:34:13.400
all the different players get together and be like, Okay,
658
00:34:13.400 --> 00:34:15.400
we're going to go discounted tickets, We're going to go
659
00:34:15.679 --> 00:34:18.000
special short timings. We will make sure that a marketing
660
00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:21.519
spend is lesser and it is possible if everybody aligns,
661
00:34:21.559 --> 00:34:23.960
because in the long term, it'll be better for the business.
662
00:34:24.199 --> 00:34:25.199
Sorry, I'm saying so much.
663
00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:27.320
I'm really passionate about this.
664
00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:28.880
Uh this No, this is why we are here and
665
00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:31.639
talking to you, so that the thing with this is
666
00:34:31.679 --> 00:34:34.519
what you just said is like when people like us
667
00:34:34.519 --> 00:34:37.920
who watch movies and write about them generally, my the
668
00:34:37.960 --> 00:34:40.519
one question that used to be asked for Ya Bally
669
00:34:40.599 --> 00:34:44.280
pictured Cassie here, I'm taking now the first question I
670
00:34:44.320 --> 00:34:48.440
get asked is a see, this is the kind of
671
00:34:49.280 --> 00:34:51.039
system and this is the kind of lives that we
672
00:34:51.079 --> 00:34:53.920
are now living in. But having said all of this,
673
00:34:54.360 --> 00:34:57.320
both of you are getting into production or are you
674
00:34:57.400 --> 00:34:58.480
already producers?
675
00:34:58.719 --> 00:35:01.199
Because is this something you can change?
676
00:35:01.400 --> 00:35:03.000
You know, if you if you are going to be
677
00:35:03.119 --> 00:35:06.239
producing your own films, will you have will you have
678
00:35:06.320 --> 00:35:10.320
the power or to shape the films and their release.
679
00:35:10.760 --> 00:35:12.840
Is that something that either of you or both of
680
00:35:12.920 --> 00:35:16.599
you are considering or have you already done so because
681
00:35:16.880 --> 00:35:19.480
one of your one of your line You're co producer
682
00:35:19.559 --> 00:35:20.280
on Debbie Crime.
683
00:35:20.400 --> 00:35:22.880
Right, I'm an executive producer, Okay.
684
00:35:23.000 --> 00:35:25.760
I just wanted to own every possible space of a
685
00:35:25.800 --> 00:35:27.880
show that I love so dearly.
686
00:35:28.480 --> 00:35:29.480
And that's how it is.
687
00:35:30.039 --> 00:35:30.519
Uh.
688
00:35:30.679 --> 00:35:36.480
Am I a producer on job, like actually on set
689
00:35:36.639 --> 00:35:40.440
doing my duties as a producer, or while I'm making
690
00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:41.840
the you know, excel sheet.
691
00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:42.360
No, I'm not.
692
00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:47.840
But will I contribute everything I can in my capacity
693
00:35:47.920 --> 00:35:48.400
and more?
694
00:35:48.599 --> 00:35:49.239
Yes? I will.
695
00:35:50.079 --> 00:35:53.719
So it's not something that I would be you know,
696
00:35:53.800 --> 00:35:55.920
if you tell me, Am I going to independently produce?
697
00:35:57.960 --> 00:36:00.599
No, But if you ask me, would I direct? Yes?
698
00:36:00.719 --> 00:36:04.480
I would love to. And if that can change a narrative.
699
00:36:05.559 --> 00:36:07.519
I think I have the privilege of a mic and
700
00:36:07.559 --> 00:36:10.400
a camera and if I don't use it to at
701
00:36:10.480 --> 00:36:14.480
least a small extent, it would be really unfair. So
702
00:36:14.559 --> 00:36:18.159
that is that something that you're thinking about of directing? Yes,
703
00:36:18.239 --> 00:36:20.920
I want to, But I also understand the kind of
704
00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:25.239
hard work and money a producer, a spot boy, everyone
705
00:36:25.320 --> 00:36:28.880
puts into it. So I need to really know what
706
00:36:28.920 --> 00:36:30.440
I'm getting into before I dive in.
707
00:36:31.199 --> 00:36:33.719
And humar, what about you? Have you thought about getting
708
00:36:33.719 --> 00:36:34.519
into production?
709
00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:37.119
We are so Saki, my brother and I we have
710
00:36:37.159 --> 00:36:42.079
a production company called Salem Siblings, I mean explanatory, yeah,
711
00:36:42.159 --> 00:36:47.440
and we've actually produced a film. We've raised some money
712
00:36:47.440 --> 00:36:50.480
and put some of our own to make a film
713
00:36:50.519 --> 00:36:51.920
called Baby.
714
00:36:51.679 --> 00:36:57.039
Do Die Do? Like caermarker, it's actually a yeah, so
715
00:36:57.159 --> 00:36:59.440
do I do? So Baby Do Di Do?
716
00:36:59.639 --> 00:37:01.840
And we are looking at a released next year. Of
717
00:37:01.880 --> 00:37:06.840
course exactly what we're discussing. Do we do a theatrical release?
718
00:37:06.960 --> 00:37:08.960
Do we sell it to a stream? But you know,
719
00:37:09.000 --> 00:37:10.519
when we start the journey for this film, we just
720
00:37:10.599 --> 00:37:12.679
want to make a film and we want to tell stories.
721
00:37:12.719 --> 00:37:15.440
In some ways, we're very silly, both of us. Uh
722
00:37:15.519 --> 00:37:18.239
you know still and we still believe that, you know,
723
00:37:18.320 --> 00:37:20.800
could be possible here. That's the same I think thought
724
00:37:20.840 --> 00:37:23.480
and ambition with it take and I went to Mumbai,
725
00:37:24.079 --> 00:37:26.159
key hi. But we'll walk into a room, will do
726
00:37:26.199 --> 00:37:28.559
an audition and you know, maybe we've become a movie star.
727
00:37:29.280 --> 00:37:30.320
But guess what we did?
728
00:37:30.760 --> 00:37:34.400
So with that same kind of silliness, you know, we're thinking, yeah,
729
00:37:34.400 --> 00:37:36.599
we're going to be first generation producers, and we don't
730
00:37:36.639 --> 00:37:39.440
know how everything works today, but we'll figure it out
731
00:37:39.719 --> 00:37:42.360
and we'll make one film, we'll make another film, we'll
732
00:37:42.360 --> 00:37:47.599
make a third film. Y y cha yoga.
733
00:37:47.880 --> 00:37:53.760
So that's the that's the thought. And uh no.
734
00:37:53.800 --> 00:37:56.000
And I feel, you know, so just to come back
735
00:37:56.000 --> 00:37:58.639
to what you were talking, you know, I feel very blessed.
736
00:37:58.639 --> 00:38:02.800
And I'm not trying to uh ship on the streamers
737
00:38:02.840 --> 00:38:03.960
because I really do believe it.
738
00:38:04.000 --> 00:38:05.480
Today we have a show like Deli Crime.
739
00:38:05.719 --> 00:38:08.039
I'm I'm the face of a show called Mahrani which
740
00:38:08.119 --> 00:38:10.199
is on Sony Live, and they're both on number one
741
00:38:10.239 --> 00:38:14.280
and two respectively right now, and it's really changed my life,
742
00:38:14.440 --> 00:38:16.920
you know, for the better. Having said that, I feel
743
00:38:16.960 --> 00:38:20.679
for for the business to flourish, each and every kind
744
00:38:20.719 --> 00:38:23.280
of film needs to flourish. So hey, maybe some films
745
00:38:23.599 --> 00:38:25.920
we need to protect a little bit more, you know
746
00:38:26.039 --> 00:38:28.920
if and and I feel the responsibilities on us also
747
00:38:28.920 --> 00:38:30.960
to make better films, but also on you guys to
748
00:38:31.119 --> 00:38:33.360
go out and support such kind of films and watch
749
00:38:33.400 --> 00:38:39.960
them because sta you know. But then it's it's a
750
00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:42.880
two way thing, right. We are actually artists. We perform
751
00:38:42.960 --> 00:38:44.559
for you and you guys have to go and support
752
00:38:44.599 --> 00:38:45.000
the movie.
753
00:38:45.039 --> 00:38:47.360
So it's uh, it works both right.
754
00:38:47.679 --> 00:38:51.159
I have a you know, I agree with what Homas saying,
755
00:38:51.320 --> 00:38:55.960
but I also feel that the odd platforms really open doors.
756
00:38:56.320 --> 00:39:00.039
I remember this film with Nikai called Once Again, and
757
00:39:00.039 --> 00:39:02.039
when the film got made, and the producers and the
758
00:39:02.079 --> 00:39:04.639
director and we were all sitting together and they said,
759
00:39:04.679 --> 00:39:07.320
you know, let's do a theatrical And then they asked me,
760
00:39:07.360 --> 00:39:09.039
what do you think. I said, I'd love to see
761
00:39:09.039 --> 00:39:12.119
myself on a poster, but is anyone going to come
762
00:39:12.159 --> 00:39:15.280
and watch it? Why would you want to throw away
763
00:39:15.320 --> 00:39:18.679
a beautiful film? Because what will happen is it will
764
00:39:18.719 --> 00:39:22.000
release on Friday. It won't make the numbers, and people
765
00:39:22.000 --> 00:39:23.679
will say flop him, cut up.
766
00:39:24.039 --> 00:39:25.960
The fate of a film which has.
767
00:39:25.800 --> 00:39:29.400
Been worked on by a million people over a year,
768
00:39:29.559 --> 00:39:33.519
two years, will be decided on that one Friday, which
769
00:39:33.559 --> 00:39:36.639
is really not fair. So OTD is giving you an
770
00:39:36.639 --> 00:39:38.800
opportunity of all of it, and not to forget that
771
00:39:38.880 --> 00:39:42.920
it's broken those boxes. There is no hero, heroine, villain
772
00:39:43.239 --> 00:39:46.800
or Bakisa so far, chair Jovie bansape kind of a thing.
773
00:39:46.840 --> 00:39:49.400
You know. They all have parts, they all have stories.
774
00:39:49.559 --> 00:39:56.599
So I think it's a great great place, and uh ah, honestly,
775
00:39:57.079 --> 00:40:00.840
it's not like it's not like I ever got the
776
00:40:00.880 --> 00:40:02.719
people to the theaters, so it doesn't matter to me.
777
00:40:03.000 --> 00:40:04.880
I'm very happy as far as they're watching my work.
778
00:40:04.920 --> 00:40:08.480
It's reaching the world, and I'm really excited about it.
779
00:40:08.639 --> 00:40:10.480
I wanted to ask you, what do you do when
780
00:40:10.480 --> 00:40:12.920
you want to just like kick back? Do you do
781
00:40:13.000 --> 00:40:16.199
you watch other people's movies? Do you watch your own films?
782
00:40:16.280 --> 00:40:18.599
Do you do? You do nothing? What do you do?
783
00:40:18.760 --> 00:40:20.199
I don't like to watch my own films.
784
00:40:20.239 --> 00:40:22.800
Okay, I hate watching my own films because I'm so shallow.
785
00:40:22.800 --> 00:40:25.559
I'm only looking at my hair and my one pimple.
786
00:40:25.920 --> 00:40:29.760
I swear, I swear like all any actor telling you
787
00:40:29.800 --> 00:40:32.800
that I'm looking at my performance. I don't even cry
788
00:40:32.840 --> 00:40:35.519
looking at performance or face. Either ways, it's not going
789
00:40:35.559 --> 00:40:36.440
to work. So I'm just like.
790
00:40:36.440 --> 00:40:38.800
Neither, which is why I never even see the monitor,
791
00:40:38.840 --> 00:40:40.920
because I'll not be looking at the shot. I'll be
792
00:40:40.960 --> 00:40:46.239
looking at the baltik like my mind is only tuned
793
00:40:46.280 --> 00:40:49.480
that way, very very vain. But but I do like
794
00:40:49.519 --> 00:40:52.400
watching films. I like reading, I like traveling, I like eating.
795
00:40:52.559 --> 00:40:53.679
I like being fed.
796
00:40:54.960 --> 00:40:59.159
Right, good, Okay, what about you Shapali actually exactly that.
797
00:40:59.320 --> 00:41:01.960
I don't watch my work because I know I won't
798
00:41:02.039 --> 00:41:03.480
like it, so why go there?
799
00:41:03.639 --> 00:41:06.679
Are you your hardest critic, harshest critic?
800
00:41:06.920 --> 00:41:11.039
Yes, yes, And every single time I feel I just
801
00:41:11.039 --> 00:41:16.760
got lucky. I have this massive imposter syndrome of actual
802
00:41:16.920 --> 00:41:20.920
Last time ye tell yeah it was fluke upcakering, next
803
00:41:20.920 --> 00:41:22.159
set for caring, and now.
804
00:41:22.039 --> 00:41:26.320
You'll get caught. It's that whole thing. But I love reading,
805
00:41:27.400 --> 00:41:38.000
love imposter syndrome, chact It's so. I love reading, I
806
00:41:38.079 --> 00:41:43.440
love traveling, I love food. What else? Movies? I want
807
00:41:43.480 --> 00:41:45.000
to watch everything that's released.
808
00:41:45.119 --> 00:41:47.320
Right, But now that I have both of you captive,
809
00:41:47.440 --> 00:41:49.599
I wanted to ask you, as a film critic of
810
00:41:49.840 --> 00:41:51.480
you know, I've been doing this for a while now.
811
00:41:52.639 --> 00:41:55.800
How do we've read all your reviews? How do you
812
00:41:56.119 --> 00:42:00.039
I was dying to say this all evening. How I
813
00:42:00.159 --> 00:42:02.119
think you've been for being very kind to teligrime?
814
00:42:02.760 --> 00:42:06.079
Yes, that's a that's one. I'm never kind. I really
815
00:42:06.239 --> 00:42:07.880
genuinely like it. I'm just right.
816
00:42:08.320 --> 00:42:09.360
But how do you?
817
00:42:09.519 --> 00:42:14.199
How do you respond to critiques? Do you read them?
818
00:42:14.559 --> 00:42:16.440
Do you have your team read them to you? Do
819
00:42:16.519 --> 00:42:17.400
you do you follow?
820
00:42:18.039 --> 00:42:18.199
How?
821
00:42:18.320 --> 00:42:20.840
And do you actually read it to actually say, Okay,
822
00:42:20.920 --> 00:42:23.960
this is a person who's saying it for this reason,
823
00:42:24.039 --> 00:42:26.000
and maybe I should, you know, maybe you should sort
824
00:42:26.039 --> 00:42:27.440
of bring it back into your work.
825
00:42:27.559 --> 00:42:29.039
Is that a thought that comes to you.
826
00:42:29.559 --> 00:42:31.920
I do read reviews, of course, because how else did
827
00:42:31.920 --> 00:42:34.079
you know that Friday when you're sitting and show at
828
00:42:34.119 --> 00:42:35.920
a film is releasing, Like what you do? You have
829
00:42:36.000 --> 00:42:38.519
nothing to do because now the promotional marketing teams have
830
00:42:38.559 --> 00:42:40.880
also left you. You know, you're really sort of sitting
831
00:42:40.920 --> 00:42:43.719
at home and just waiting for that verdict.
832
00:42:44.960 --> 00:42:47.000
Does it affect you? I guess you are. You're curious
833
00:42:47.039 --> 00:42:48.639
about what people think about your work.
834
00:42:48.719 --> 00:42:51.639
And there's some people, like some actors I'm sure you
835
00:42:51.760 --> 00:42:53.440
like a little more than the other. Some reviewers you
836
00:42:53.599 --> 00:42:55.320
like a little bit more than the others because you've
837
00:42:55.320 --> 00:42:57.440
also followed their work right, and they also I think
838
00:42:57.440 --> 00:43:00.840
their work speaks for them for itself. Having said that,
839
00:43:01.000 --> 00:43:03.159
I do believe, like I'll give you an example, like
840
00:43:03.840 --> 00:43:05.360
like like Maharani is a show.
841
00:43:05.400 --> 00:43:06.079
I do believe that.
842
00:43:06.159 --> 00:43:09.199
You know, when season one came out, the English media
843
00:43:09.239 --> 00:43:12.079
completely shat on it. In fact, we all read the
844
00:43:12.159 --> 00:43:16.360
reviews and we all were depressed. Kiar Galadbanya. Maybe you know,
845
00:43:16.440 --> 00:43:19.000
we'll try harder, we'll do something else, and we'll maybe
846
00:43:19.119 --> 00:43:21.920
we misfire it. And and we took it very sportingly.
847
00:43:22.000 --> 00:43:25.519
But by Monday, when the show's numbers came, it was
848
00:43:25.719 --> 00:43:28.199
it was just crazy. And today we're sitting on season
849
00:43:28.320 --> 00:43:30.960
four and even then, and then I think by the
850
00:43:31.000 --> 00:43:32.719
time season two and three came, then it when the
851
00:43:32.800 --> 00:43:35.320
other extreme. Then everybody loved everything, so men can now
852
00:43:35.440 --> 00:43:38.679
one needs to also understand that perhaps it's over correction,
853
00:43:39.679 --> 00:43:42.639
but I think it was saying something about the people
854
00:43:42.679 --> 00:43:45.199
also review because it's it's like, you know, something is
855
00:43:45.320 --> 00:43:47.960
vernacular or something is little massie, so it doesn't need
856
00:43:48.039 --> 00:43:52.679
to necessarily be you know, not respected or spoken about.
857
00:43:52.440 --> 00:43:55.679
A certain way. So I don't take them too much
858
00:43:55.719 --> 00:43:56.039
too heart.
859
00:43:56.320 --> 00:43:59.719
I feel eventually it's whether it's a series or a film,
860
00:44:00.239 --> 00:44:03.199
the audience is the ultimate metric of you.
861
00:44:03.239 --> 00:44:05.519
Know, what about you? Shah Pali.
862
00:44:05.760 --> 00:44:07.960
So earlier I used to get very deeply affected.
863
00:44:08.440 --> 00:44:13.559
If anybody, anybody, you know, even Mari building a Watchman,
864
00:44:13.599 --> 00:44:16.199
if he didn't like me, I was like Barbad total
865
00:44:16.480 --> 00:44:19.239
like Richavala did not like my work finished, that's the
866
00:44:19.360 --> 00:44:20.880
end of it. I want to go and hide under
867
00:44:20.920 --> 00:44:25.159
a rock. And obviously when a critique is, you know,
868
00:44:26.440 --> 00:44:29.000
saying something about your work, it's even more disturbing.
869
00:44:29.480 --> 00:44:35.519
But now I kind of I can wait, right, I mean,
870
00:44:35.559 --> 00:44:36.159
I've seen.
871
00:44:38.199 --> 00:44:41.559
Ninety eight good reviews and two not good reviews. I
872
00:44:41.679 --> 00:44:44.599
know where it stands. And also, when you're doing a
873
00:44:44.679 --> 00:44:46.480
project I like when I did Deli Crime, we didn't
874
00:44:46.480 --> 00:44:48.880
know where it was going to be even showcased, but
875
00:44:49.119 --> 00:44:52.039
we were so proud of what we created that it
876
00:44:52.119 --> 00:44:55.480
didn't matter you don't like it too bad. And honestly,
877
00:44:55.760 --> 00:44:58.639
art is subjective. You know, somebody may love it, somebody
878
00:44:58.719 --> 00:45:01.880
may not like it, but I am very proud of
879
00:45:01.960 --> 00:45:03.280
what we created together.
880
00:45:03.519 --> 00:45:04.599
So yeah, on that.
881
00:45:04.679 --> 00:45:07.239
Happy note, thank you very much for being a great audience.
882
00:45:07.320 --> 00:45:09.559
Thank you very much, Thank you, thank you so much.
883
00:45:12.480 --> 00:45:16.480
You were listening to Huma Kurashi and Shifalisha on Express Conversations.
884
00:45:16.719 --> 00:45:18.599
If you like the show, then do subscribe to us
885
00:45:18.800 --> 00:45:21.400
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886
00:45:21.400 --> 00:45:23.440
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887
00:45:23.559 --> 00:45:25.719
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888
00:45:25.840 --> 00:45:27.760
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889
00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:30.719
You can also tweet us at Express Podcasts or write
890
00:45:30.760 --> 00:45:33.480
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