Best known for her powerful performances in celebrated indie films such as ‘Firaaq’, ‘Tu Hai Mera Sunday’ and the more recent ‘Santosh’, Shahana Goswami has never shied away from stepping into the world of mainstream cinema either. Her biggest commercial outing to date remains Shah Rukh Khan‘s ‘Ra One’, in which she took on a fairly limited role. However, Shahana has been refreshingly honest about her reasons for saying yes to the film, admitting that it was Khan’s star power and presence that drew her in, even though she knew from the start that the role itself would leave little room for her to truly express herself as an actor.
Shahana reveals Karan Johar directed some scenes of ‘Ra One’
During a candid chat with Siddharth Kannan, Shahana looked back fondly on her time working on ‘Ra One’, describing the overall experience as truly enjoyable. She also let slip an interesting behind-the-scenes detail, revealing that while Anubhav Sinha helmed the film as its director, some scenes were also directed by Karan Johar. “For me, what matters is the process of doing the film. And I had a great time on the film. We had a lot of fun. Working with Shah Rukh was a great experience. Everybody on set, Kareena and everyone else, was wonderful. One of the scenes was shot with a double unit, so Anubhav Sinha was doing the action bits, and there were some home scenes that Karan Johar had directed as well. So it was actually a lot of fun in that sense,” she said.
Shahana admits ‘Ra One’ left her feeling creatively unfulfilled
At the same time, Shahana did not hold back from acknowledging that the film failed to challenge her creatively. She described the experience as an eye-opening moment of self-reflection, one that made her more conscious of the choices she makes as an actor. “It was one of the last couple of films where I felt like I had shortchanged myself. I agreed to do something that didn’t satisfy me and that I knew wouldn’t satisfy me as an actor. So that was one of those films. At the same time, I was very happy doing it because Shah Rukh was very generous. At no point did he make it awkward. He made it very clear to me: ‘Listen, I want to work with you, and I know this is not good enough for you, but I’ll make it work,'” she said.
Did working with Shah Rukh Khan contribute positively to Shahana experience in Ra One?
Shahana Goswami praises Kapil Sharma ‘s dedication and theatre background
During the same conversation, Shahana also opened up about her experience working with comedian Kapil Sharma in ‘Zwigato’. She had nothing but praise for Kapil, speaking warmly about his commitment to the craft of acting and shedding light on his deep roots in theatre, which many people may not be aware of. “Kapil has done lot of theatre. When we were shooting and doing promotions in Amritsar, we met the teacher and the theatre group he used to work with. He had done a lot of theatre with them. He has put in an enormous amount of work into acting. People know him primarily as a comedian, and he certainly played that role in his life, but acting has been a part of his life forever,” she said.
