“My first reaction was, ‘Are you serious?’ I was screaming! I couldn’t believe it, it was unreal. It still hasn’t sunk in,” says Shefali Shah on her Emmy nomination for best actress in Delhi Crime Season 2.
“You know, I did Delhi Crime, Season 1 and the show was nominated but I wasn’t, and I was a bit disappointed. So I thought, ‘When I didn’t get nominated then, I will not get nominated now.’ That’s why this has come as such a surprise to me,” she explains.
The crime drama which first streamed in 2019 was a turning point in Shefali’s career. The actor, who made her debut in Rangeela in 1995, won critical acclaim for her performances in Satya (1998) Monsoon Wedding (2001), Gandhi, My Father (2007), and The Last Lear (2007), says the praise and appreciation never translated into work. “I was boxed in since I played characters that were much older than my age. As a young woman, I was playing really old characters. I was playing mother to actors who were older than me. I didn’t want to do that, so I waited and waited to get the right parts.”
In Delhi Crime, she plays the courageous and conscientious deputy commissioner of police Vartika Chaturvedi, a character inspired by Chhaya Sharma, a former DCP of Delhi. Shefali says the show and the Emmy nod are “a validation that what I set out to do with Vartika was right, my understanding and translation of her was right, she is relevant, relatable and inspiring.”
She also reveals that she recognized shades of herself in her onscreen character. “We are both brutally honest; we have no façade. She is conscientious and consumed by her work. Also, we are both strong women, yet our strength lies in being vulnerable people too. I guess that came through in the performance.”
Now one of the most sought-after actors for prime projects, Shefali says this is the busiest she has ever been in her career. Given her spate of recent hits such as Jalsa, and Darlings, the actor says OTT apart, the deconstructing of narratives and storylines have played a large part in actors like her (whom the industry wondered what to do with) finally getting work.
“Earlier we had the standard hero, heroine, and many supporting characters. Stories changed, and we got ensemble casts. Women-oriented films like Dirty Picture, Tumhari Sulu, and Badhai Ho came and then OTT came and we suddenly saw this burst of talented actors who were earlier ignored because there weren’t any roles suitable for them. OTT gave us that space, resurrected careers. And now people think of me as capable of leading or being a parallel lead, she says with a smile.
Married to filmmaker Vipul Shah, and a mother of two, Shefali says she is grateful to be living in times when actresses, despite marriage and motherhood, are working and front-lining projects.
Does she and her husband, who recently produced the mega-hit The Kerala Story, discuss work at home?
“Well, we do. Vipul and I are avid film watchers,” she shares. “Even with our work, we have deep conversations. When Vipul writes or works on a script, I am probably one of the first people he shows it to. When I get something, I discuss with him whether it is a good idea to do it. Though at the end it is our individual decision, we always want to know what the other thinks.”
How would she describe herself as an actor, we ask. “I am an honest actor”, she responds promptly, but admits that her work process has undergone a sea change. “I was spontaneous, but now I soak myself in the script, and the character, reading every word to understand every detail. But, it is all forgotten when the director calls ‘Action’. No two takes of mine are similar.”
The 50-year-old actor is in competition with Connie Neilson from Denmark for Karen Blixen, Bliver Til; Billie Piper from the UK for I Hate Suzie Too; and Karla Souza from Mexico for La Caida. The Emmys will be announced on 16 January 2024.
