Shefali Shah on being part of Neeraj Ghaywan’s short film Juice and her artistic inclinations

Two jolly long years after her standout, layered role as a Delhi socialite in Zoya Akhtar’s Dil Dhadakne Do, Shefali Shah is back as the simmering protagonist of Neeraj Ghaywan’s short film, Juice, making us sulk over why we don’t see this fierce performer more often on screen. It’s difficult to buy into her as the la pauvre femme, a perennially distressed object of patriarchal oppression, relegated to picking munched tandoori chicken legs off the plates of an incredibly unattractive group of middle aged men. Whether togged up in a salwar kameez hunting dusty fans off attics or gobbling one chocolate cake too many as a rich, neglected wife, Shah always looks like the kind of no-nonsense woman who may just grit her teeth and tolerate your b.s. but never for too long. [caption id=“attachment_4237523” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Poster for the Shefali Shah-starring short film, Juice. Twitter/@ghaywan[/caption] Her playing a frustrated, kitchen-bound woman, reminds me of one of my favourite Bollywood off-screen stories about how Yash Chopra wanted to work with Sridevi after Chandni, but the script he had was Darr. The filmmaker couldn’t fathom how the star could pull off a role that required her to play a pretty mouse; all Juhi Chawla did in the film was scream “Sunil!” after every five minutes and Sunny Deol would bound in to her rescue. The random info also highlights a similarity between Sridevi and Shah, both owners of the ridiculously large, saucer-like, expressive eyes that are perfectly capable of casually breathing fire all day. Shah’s au naturale performances– from a Filmfare Critics award-winning turn as Bhiku Mhatre’s voluble wife in Satya, to Monsoon Wedding’s headstrong Ria and Dil Dhadakne Do’s fiercely complex, vulnerable Neelam Mehra (chomping up her high-profile co-actors in a knockout scene at the hospital) – come from an instinctive, savage space, with an abundance of layers simmering beneath a placid smile and soft-spoken personality. It’s almost disappointing then to meet her and discover that she’s not a dragon. She makes all the right noises on the central theme of Juice. “It’s everyone’s story. My grand mom’s, my mom’s, my aunt’s… it could even be mine. All these generations in my family have been blessed with very progressive husbands. But all the women have been raised to being the subservient ones, in small day-to-day matters. It’s ingrained in us. And it won’t change until we raise our sons right, with the understanding of equality.” Juicy collaborations Platitudes on patriarchy aside, Neeraj Ghaywan’s masterstroke in Juice is Shah’s casting. She anchors the film, which is otherwise painted in broad strokes and strewn with token characters, like a girl child weaned away from watching television with the boys to ferrying meals for the men (Oh, the subtlety!).  In betwixt such sledgehammer communication, a couple of fleeting moments – like when the pregnant guest hands a ‘separate’ glass for the maid to drink tea in – convey the inherent and active contribution of women in fuelling patriarchy, playing perpetrator and victim all at once. Overall though, it’s a tad self-conscious and high handed. (If I want to see dowdy housewives get back at douchebag husbands, I’ll watch Tisca Chopra’s smashingly wicked short, Chutney again). But with Shah’s presence, Juice acquires spice and a complexity that the actress brings simply with her simmering presence, endowing the housewife with a realness while keeping her on edge and not making her a trope, or (miraculously) ever pitiable. A big fan of Masaan, working with Ghaywan was a massive incentive for the actor to jump into the project. _“_When I met Neeraj, what struck me most was his simplicity. He knew his script, his shots and his editing so meticulous that in spite of being an ensemble cast, with so many characters, so many angles and so many important points to be made, he made it extremely easy and fluid.” Shah has carried back the conversations she had with Ghaywan on the film’s set, as well as his unique modus operandi to push actors without barking orders on set. One that worked like a charm on the film’s arresting climax scene. “Just before the last shot, he came to me with headphones and said he wanted to me hear something. It was a very strong piece of music…I’d heard it but I couldn’t recollect from where. He said it was from Kill Bill (Italian composer Ennio Morricone ‘L’Arena’), from the scene where she’s buried inside the coffin and she’s scratching the wood to get out.” After that musical exchange, nothing else was required to can the final shot, where Shah claims the cooler and her space in the home leaving us with ‘The Glare’. A canvas of her own

Final touches. pic.twitter.com/LI1VRIsPUT

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Unlike her commanding claim in the film, Shah isn’t huffing, puffing and making symbolic gestures to carve her space in Bollywood, which is prone to offer her stockpile roles. After a three-month art course at Barcelona-based Metàfora last year, the actor has channelled her creativity into fluid acrylic and ink interpretations of architectural designs. She’s displayed her work at Gurgaon and Mumbai and is all set for her first solo art exhibition in Pune from 8 to 13 December (Look her up on Insta for sneak peeks at the canvases). Neither the actor nor her audience is keen on seeing her play mother to Akshay Kumar again (that inspired casting for husband Vipul Shah’s 2005 drama Waqt) “Now, I’m looking at challenging and exciting roles for my age, characters that allow diverse unpredictable human emotions and roles which are not just fillers,” she says, adding that she’s thankful nobody’s offering her those roles any more. She would love to work with Ghaywan again, and admires the work of Shoojit Sarkar, Gauri Shinde, Anirudh Roy Chowdhury, Anand Rai, Shakun Batra, Zoya Akhtar, Meghna Gulzar and many others. But there’s much more that a woman reveals with her Netflix list than with her words. Shah admits she is late in the game, but is already devouring House of Cards, “the best man-woman relationship I’ve ever seen”.  Another of her favourites is Mindhunters, the crime drama produced by David Fincher and Charlize Theron. Shah may gamely bat for patriarchy-punching films but her ferocious talent cries out for so much more. For an actor who instinctively endows one-stroke characters with subtle layers, a kickass role  -  think whip smart, vicious, all shades of grey, manipulative and morally ambiguous –  will have her knocking it out of the park, Juice firmly in hand, and saucer eyes on target.