Shahana Goswami on Neeyat and more

Shahana Goswami as Lisa, the beautiful, sensual, loving, expressive, funny, and flamboyant new girlfriend of Ashish Kapoor (Ram Kapoor), in the recently released crime thriller Neeyat, reminds us time and again what a versatile actress she is. Shahana, who doesn’t shy away from calling herself ‘choosy’ when it comes to work, speaks to us about Neeyat, her experience in the industry and more.

How is your experience working in a multi-starrer film? How is Vidya as a co-actor?

I had a fantastic experience. Director Anu Menon made sure that every character has a kind of intrigue, fascination and uniqueness to them, and handpicked great actors to play them. Honestly, I have always loved Vidya, both as an actor and as a person. There is something so honest, patient, warm and radiant about her. She has incredible talent, is extremely professional, and she is a very giving actor. She loves what she does, has fun while doing it, and is extremely focused and committed.

While the period after Rock On! was slow, the last few years have kept you busy. Had you been choosy or were not being offered the right kind of roles?

Yes, I am choosy because I’m hungry to do good work. I don’t want to go to work and feel like it’s a chore because we are very privileged to do stuff, which is creative, satisfying to the soul, pays us well, makes us travel, and work as a team to entertain people. I like trying new things as an actor. Zwigato’s Pratima and Neeyat’s Lisa are completely different.

How did you prepare for two different roles back-to-back?

They’re so different, and I don’t know how I do it because I don’t think about it so much. I’m not one of those actors who prepare a lot. I’ve always been more intuitive. Another thing which we don’t talk about is hair, makeup and wardrobe. When you get into the costume, do the hair and makeup of that character, you automatically start feeling like that person a lot. When I watch the two projects back-to-back, even I feel like, ‘How have I managed to play both these parts?’ But, that’s the fun of it. That’s why we do what we do.

You have worked with some of the best female directors. Is it any different working with male directors?

I have worked with a lot of female directors and a lot of amazing male directors. It is a bit of a coincidence; I get asked about this a lot and I’m really proud and grateful that I’ve been able to work with almost an equal number of men and women directors in my career. But there is no difference in terms of genders. I feel that the differences are in personalities.

Actresses still talk about unequal pay packages. What’s your take on it?

The pay is still quite unequal. I think we as actors get paid a lot of money, even more money than is required. So, in that sense, I feel everybody needs to be a bit more realistic in what they ask and lower the overall cost of filmmaking. That applies for both men and women. Hierarchy is a big problem in our industry because we’ve been a patriarchal society; it’s a patriarchal world.

Any genre that you would like to explore?

I would love to explore comedy, a sport or an action film, where I need to transform my body entirely. I would also love to do an out-and-out Bollywood film where I get to do song, dance, drama, emotions, all of it. I think I’d be great at it because I grew up watching all that. I would love to do a period piece, a biopic, and a horror movie. Also, I’d love to play a dark character.

Upcoming works.

I did Despatch with Manoj Bajpayee, directed by Kanu Behl. I have another short film with Reema Das. It is a part of an anthology of shorts, which hopefully should come out sometime this year. And I have a new film that I’m starting in August, which I’m very excited about.