The graceful Charu Shankar, who calls herself an actor, dance and movement practitioner, is seen as Jyoti, Ranbir Kapoor’s mother, and Anil Kapoor’s wife in Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal. The story starts with a family, where the successful, busy father has no time to engage with his children, leaving the mother as the sole caregiver, and the problems that arise thereof. Central to the plot is the toxic arc of a father-son relationship and the constant attempts of the mother to maintain a meaningful emotional connection with her son, while pacifying her husband alongside. “Mine is the voice of reason, and one would wonder how this story may have turned out differently if only Jyoti’s advice had been heeded,” says Charu. We spoke to her to learn more about the movie, her upcoming projects, dance as a medium
for healing and more. Excerpts:
How was the experience working with Anil [Kapoor] and Ranbir [Kapoor]?
I was, of course, quite nervous on my first day on set. But my initial misgivings of working with a big Bollywood commercial film and superstars gave way to relief with the warmth and camaraderie I received on the set. Every single day, I was especially blown away by Anil’s thoughtfulness and charm. He actually remembered having met me 10 years ago when we were meant to do a show together. It came as a huge and welcome surprise! He took me under his wings, and along with the writers, we worked together to make our scenes better more effective, and more relatable.
Ranbir is a gem of a guy and an incredible actor to boot. He never missed a single line, not once during the entire shoot of the film. He, Rashmika and I would chat over well-earned coffee breaks, discussing
travel plans and which shows to bingewatch. I also saw a side of Ranbir that was touching...that he is a doting dad. His daughter was born between the shoot schedules of the film, and he had clicked beautiful pictures of her on his phone.
What’s your take on dance as a healing technique, since you are a practitioner of dance and movements?
I started my career as a dancer, and in those early years, it was all about hard work in the studio, performances, and the audience’s applause. It was only much later when I started to do physical theatre with Roysten Abel, Dilip Shankar and Rashid Ansari, I realised that dance can actually be another language in itself - the language of the body. Martha Graham had called it the hidden language of the soul. To dance is to first and foremost, have a conversation with yourself. It may sound vague and eclectic, but try it. Shut yourself into a room, play any music and just allow yourself to move. When done with full
awareness, every movement no matter how big or small, becomes dance.
What is there in the pipeline?
My film Binny and Family with Pankaj Kapur ji is releasing early next year. And I’m currently shooting for a gritty show produced by Ashi Dua.
Animal is running in theatres.