Shefali Shah

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Shefali Shah
Shefali Shah smiling and looking at the camera.
Shah in 2022
Born
Shefali Shetty

(1973-05-22) 22 May 1973 (age 51)
Bombay, Maharashtra, India
OccupationActress
Years active1993–present
WorksFull list
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1994; div. 2000)​
​
(m. 2000)​
Children2
AwardsFull list

Shefali Shah (née Shetty; born 22 May 1973) is an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Working primarily in independent Hindi films, she has received multiple local and foreign accolades for her performances. Shah's acting career started on the Gujarati stage before she debuted on television in 1993. After small parts on television and a brief stint with cinema in Rangeela (1995), she gained wider recognition in 1997 for her role in the popular series Hasratein. This was followed by lead roles in the TV series Kabhie Kabhie (1997) and Raahein (1999). A supporting role in the crime film Satya (1998) won her positive notice and a Filmfare Critics Award, and she soon shifted her focus to film acting starting with a lead role in the Gujarati drama Dariya Chhoru (1999).

Shah was selective about her roles through the following decades, resulting in intermittent film work, mostly in character parts and often to appreciation from critics. She appeared in the international co-production Monsoon Wedding (2001) and the mainstream comedy-drama Waqt: The Race Against Time (2005). In 2007, her portrayal of Kasturba Gandhi in the biographical drama Gandhi, My Father won her the Best Actress prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival, and she received the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for the drama film The Last Lear. Among her subsequent film roles, she played a leading part in Kucch Luv Jaisaa (2011) and was noted for her work in the social problem film Lakshmi (2014) and the ensemble drama Dil Dhadakne Do (2015).

Shah's career surged in the late 2010s as she transitioned to leading roles. She won a Filmfare Short Film Award for her performance in Juice (2017) and followed with two Netflix projects: the romantic drama Once Again (2018) and the crime miniseries Delhi Crime (2019). Her performance as DCP Vartika Chaturvedi in the latter met with widespread acclaim. Five 2022 projects, including the Disney+ Hotstar webseries Human, the feature dramas Jalsa and Darlings, as well as the second season of Delhi Crime, brought Shah further recognition. The last of these earned her a nomination for the International Emmy Award for Best Actress, and she won a second Filmfare Critics Award for playing a woman with early onset dementia in Three of Us (2023).

Early and personal life

[edit]

Shefali Shah was born as Shefali Shetty on 22 May 1973 in Mumbai.[1][2][3][4] She is the only child of Mangalorean Sudhakar Shetty, a banker at Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and his Gujarati wife Shobha, a homeopathy doctor.[5][6] Shah is fluent in Tulu, Hindi, English, Marathi and Gujarati.[5][6] The family resided in Santa Cruz, Mumbai at the RBI quarters, where she attended Arya Vidya Mandir School.[7][8] While she was inclined to the arts as a child, including singing and dancing (she is trained in Bharatanatyam[9]), she did not find particular interest in acting.[7][10] Her first stint with acting happened on Gujarati stage when she was 10; her school teacher's playwright husband asked Shah's mother if she would permit her daughter to play a character based on Damien Thorn from The Omen (1976).[7][8] Shah played the part upon her mother's consent and would not act again until several years later.[8] After her schooling, she enrolled at Mithibai College in Vile Parle, opting to study science, but spent most of her student days working in theatre.[8] Shah was married to television actor Harsh Chhaya from 1994 to 2000.[10][11] In December 2000, she married director Vipul Amrutlal Shah,[12] with whom she has two sons, Aryaman and Maurya.[13]

Shah and her husband looking at the camera
Shah with her husband Vipul Shah in 2019

In addition to acting, Shah is fond of painting and cooking. Finding painting therapeutic, she says it gives her the creative outlet she craves when not acting in films.[7][14] She trained for six months at Last Ship, an artists' residency in Bandra, and in 2016 took a course at Metàfora, an art school in Barcelona, Spain.[7][15] Working mostly with acrylic on canvass as well as charcoal and ink, Shah focuses on perspective art, namely "the marriage of perspective with architectural designs" of places she has visited.[14][15] She cites Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock as her sources of inspiration.[15] One of her paintings was on display at Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai at an exhibition held by Art for Concern, where it was eventually sold, while a solo show at The Monalisa Kalagram in Pune in 2017 was, by her own admission, unsuccessful.[14][16]

Shah opened a restaurant named Jalsa in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in 2021, which serves Indian and international cuisines and offers customers different cultural and recreational activities, from pottery and henna decoration to musical performances such as Garba.[17][18] She directly supervises its cuisine, some of which is based on her home recipes, as well as decor, having designed some of its interiors, including walls hand-painted by her.[19][20] The restaurant's second outlet was opened in Bangalore,[21] and was positively reviewed by Lifestyle Asia.[18]

Career

[edit]
See also: Shefali Shah filmography and awards

Early theatre and television work (1990–1996)

[edit]

Shah's acting career began with work in inter-collegiate plays in Gujarati during the early 1990s.[22] Her work included roles in several stage dramas including Ant Vagarni Antakshari and Doctor Tame Pan?.[5] A 1995 piece by Rasa magazine reported that Shah had proved her abilities to become one of the stars of Gujarati theatre.[23] In one of the plays, she was brought to the attention of a team member of the TV serial Campus (1993) who suggested that she audition for a part in it.[24] She was accepted following a screen test.[5] This was followed by several other serials, including the popular Zee TV shows Tara and Banegi Apni Baat (both 1993–1997), as well as Naya Nukkad (1993–1994) on Doordarshan and Daraar (1994–1995) on Zee TV.[5][10][25]

The year 1995 marked Shah's first film appearance with a brief role in Ram Gopal Varma's Rangeela.[5] A few days into shooting, she realised the part was different from what she was set up for, and she walked out of the sets as she felt cheated.[26] Shah was reluctant to work in motion pictures after that, and the roles she was offered were mostly small character parts.[27] She continued working in TV series, including Balaji Telefilms' Mano Ya Na Mano (1995–1999) and Doordarshan's Aarohan (1996–1997) and Sea Hawks (1997–1998).[22][28] An anthology horror series, Mano Ya Na Mano starred Shah opposite Durga Jasraj in an episode titled "Kabzaa", directed by Homi Wadia, which was developed into a full-fledged serial called Kavach in 2016.[29] Arohan, starring and produced by Pallavi Joshi, tells the story of a woman who joins the Indian Navy.[30]

Breakthrough with Hasratein and Satya (1997–1999)

[edit]

In 1997, Shah replaced Seema Kapoor in the Zee TV series Hasratein (1996–1999) after over 120 episodes.[31] In her first lead role, Shah starred as Savi, a married woman involved in an extramarital affair with a married man.[32][33] Based on the Marathi novel Adhantari by Jaywant Dalvi, the show was popular with audiences and attracted attention for its commentary on the institution of marriage.[34][35] India Today describes it as "one of the prime productions that changed the face of Indian television".[36] The character of Savi, a mature woman with grown up children, was significantly older in age than Shah.[37][38] Given the age differences, she had to persuade director Ajay Sinha to cast her.[32] Bhavya Sadhwani of IndiaTimes attributed the show's success with viewers mainly to the "impeccable acting skills" demonstrated by Shah in the part.[28] The serial gained wider public recognition for Shah,[10] and she called it a milestone in her career.[39][40] Her performance earned her the Zee Woman of the Year award in 1997.[40] Another lead role was given to her in Mahesh Bhatt's weekend soap Kabhie Kabhie (1997), which aired on StarPlus.[39][41]

In 1998, she was offered a small part in Ram Gopal Varma's crime thriller Satya, which revolves around the Mumbai underworld.[42][43] Having been disappointed in her previous collaboration with Varma on Rangeela, she was hesitant on accepting it but eventually relented as she found the part special and made sure to receive thorough information about it.[5][27][32] In a seven-minute role, she played Pyaari Mhatre, the wife of a mafia gangster played by Manoj Bajpayee.[8][42][44] Their roles were said to be modelled after Arun Gawli and his wife Asha.[5][27] Shah said she instinctively recognised her part and knew exactly how to play it.[5] Satya opened to commercial success and major critical acclaim, and Shah's performance in it was favourably reviewed.[5][45] Anupama Chopra of India Today wrote that Shah and her co-actors "are so good that you can almost smell the Mumbai grime on their sweaty bodies".[46] For her portrayal, Shah won the Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress.[26][47] At the 44th Filmfare Awards, she was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress and was awarded the Critics Award for Best Actress.[48]

Despite the positive reaction to her work in Satya, Shah did not receive as many film offers as she expected.[10][44] Following Hasratein, she starred in its successor on Zee TV's prime-time spot, the soap opera Raahein (1999).[49][50] The show was met with approval from viewers and critics alike.[41] She played Preeti, a woman caught between her love life and career ambitions.[50] In contrast to Shah's previous roles, the character of Preeti was 22 years old. Shailaja Bajpai of The Indian Express commended Shah's acting talent but thought she was less suitable for such a young-aged part, concluding that she is "brilliantly miscast".[51] During this period she was one of the co-hosts on the musical game show Antakshari opposite Annu Kapoor.[44][52] Among other projects on television, she acted in several episodes of the anthology series Rishtey (1999–2001), including the well-received "Highway".[53]

In 1999, she was cast in a Gujarati film, Dariya Chhoru, made by her future husband Vipul Shah. A love story situated on the coast of Saurashtra between a poor man (Jamnadas Majethia) and a wealthy woman (Shah), the film was named Best Film at the Gujarat State Film Awards, where Shah won the Best Actress award.[54][55] The film, which The Times of India said should cater to educated Gujarati viewers, was a box-office success.[56][57] According to the book Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas, it was among the films that started a trend of larger productions in the Gujarati film industry.[58] In the book Gujarat: A Panorama of the Heritage of Gujarat, the film was praised for its beautiful portrayal and Shah and her colleagues were hailed as screen artistes who "could create fresh hopes among the film goers in Gujarat".[54]

Recognition for character roles (2000–2007)

[edit]

Shah's work in the 2000s started with a short appearance in Aditya Chopra's 2000 romance Mohabbatein.[59] A year later, she was cast in Mira Nair's international co-production Monsoon Wedding,[a] a comedy-drama which chronicles the reunion of a large Punjabi family for a wedding.[61] Shah played Rhea Verma, an orphaned young woman, aspiring writer and a survivor of child sexual abuse, a character she considered as the most complex in the film.[62] The film opened to considerable international acclaim, receiving the Golden Lion at the 58th Venice International Film Festival and nominations for Best Foreign Language Film at the BAFTA and Golden Globe Awards.[63][64] Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times singled out Shah's part, and Saibal Chatterjee of Hindustan Times wrote that she "taps into the depths of a difficult character with amazing ease".[65][66] The film was a significant box-office success, earning over $33 million against its $1.2‑million budget.[67][68]

Shah worked again under her husband Vipul's direction in the family melodrama Waqt: The Race Against Time (2005), playing Amitabh Bachchan's wife and Akshay Kumar's mother.[69] She was considered for the part following Bachchan's suggestion against her husband's hesitation.[69] Her casting in the role of a middle-aged mother to Kumar, who in reality is five years her senior, attracted considerable media coverage.[70][71] She defended her choice of the part, saying she admired the character's traits and found particular challenge in the significant age differences.[72] Her portrayal of Sumitra Thakur, a strict mother who encourages her husband to take extreme measures to discipline their irresponsible son, earned her a second Filmfare nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Derek Elley of Variety and Ziya Us Salam of The Hindu commended her subtle and composed acting,[73][74] and Subhash K. Jha of The Times of India argued that "it's Shefali Shah as Amitabh Bachchan's wife whose expressive eyes conveying spousal and matriarchal pain that you come home with".[75][76] She followed with a role in Aparna Sen's English-language drama 15 Park Avenue (2005).[77]

Shah with director Rituparno Ghosh at an event for The Last Lear in 2007

In 2007, Shah was lauded for her work in two films: Feroz Abbas Khan's biographical film Gandhi, My Father and Rituparno Ghosh's English-language film-within-a-film drama The Last Lear.[78][79] An Indo-British co-production, Gandhi, My Father features Shah in the role of Kasturba Gandhi, who is torn by the lifelong conflict between her husband Mahatma Gandhi and son Hiralal (played by Darshan Jariwala and Akshaye Khanna, respectively).[80][81] Portraying the character from Kasturba's early adulthood to old age, Shah lost weight to look the part.[82][83] Khalid Mohamed of Hindustan Times called her performance "magnificent" and Roshmila Bhattacharya of Screen described her as "brilliant, her sparkling glances, eloquent silences and drooping shoulders effectively conveying the hopelessness and helplessness of a parent whose child has gone astray".[84][85] She was awarded the Best Actress prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival and the Critics Award for Best Actor – Female at the 2008 Zee Cine Awards.[86][87]

The Last Lear revolves around a Shakespearean theatre actor (played by Amitabh Bachchan).[88] Shah played his troubled and irritable caregiver and live-in partner, a role she considered her best yet, alongside Preity Zinta and Divya Dutta.[89] The film premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival where it was well-received.[90] Rajeev Masand of IBN Live wrote of "the manner she goes from spiteful to soothing" throughout the film, and Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com took note of Shah's commanding presence.[91][92] The film was named Best Feature Film in English at the 55th National Film Awards, where Shah won the Best Supporting Actress award for what was cited by the jury as an "aggressive portrayal of a Bengali housewife who in time becomes more tolerant of her aging husband's many eccentric guests".[93]

Intermittent work on stage and screen (2008–2016)

[edit]

"Those who have not seen Shefali Shah on stage have missed seeing one of the best live performers in this country. For the entire length of a two-hour play she draws the audience in, making them believe her story is part of their story too, that her pain is something they feel too."

—Authors Sunil Kant Munjal and S.K. Rai on Shah's performance in Bas Itna Sa Khwab (2010)[94]

Subhash Ghai's crime thriller Black & White (2008) stars Shah as Roma Mathur, a Bengali activist and the wife of an Urdu professor (Anil Kapoor).[2][95] The film follows the couple's acquaintance with a disguised Islamic fundamentalist plotting a suicide attack at the Red Fort.[96][97] It generated mixed reviews and so did Shah's performance, which Khalid Mohamed found to be "unusually hammy".[98][99] Two years later, in view of the lack of substantial film work that would realise her acting potential, Shah's husband Vipul cast her in his Hindi stage production Bas Itna Sa Khwab, directed by Chandrakant Kulkarni.[100] Based on Kulkarni's Marathi play Dhyanimani, it marked Shah's return to the stage after a decade and saw her in the role of a middle-class housewife opposite Kiran Karmarkar.[101][102] The production travelled from Mumbai's Rangsharda to Ludhiana's Sanskritik Samagam, to Dubai.[103] She spoke of her acting experience on stage, recounting her full involvement with her character: "I have to literally break down every time, then collect the pieces and put them back together again."[101] Authors Sunil Kant Munjal and S.K. Rai, in the book All the World is a Stage, lavished praise on her performance.[94]

Shah in 2012

After appearing as a psychiatrist in the thriller Karthik Calling Karthik in 2010,[104] Shah was cast in the lead part of her husband's production Kucch Luv Jaisaa the following year.[105] She played a young housewife who spends a romantic day with a criminal on the run from prison (Rahul Bose).[106] To prepare for the part, Shah visited the Thane Jail and interacted with prisoners to attain better understanding of her character's experience.[106] The film opened to a lukewarm critical response,[107][108] with critics Subhash K. Jha and Mihir Fadnavis observing that Shah struggles with material that was written with little conviction.[109][110] Her efforts were better received by Mayank Shekhar, who found her "startlingly expressive" and commended her for exuding "the kind of vulnerability and warmth that's rare to match".[111] After three years of absence from the screen, Shah returned as Jyoti, a brothel madam in Nagesh Kukunoor's 2014 social problem film Lakshmi, alongside Monali Thakur.[112][113] Based on the true story of a teenager who is kidnapped and sold into a brothel in Hyderabad,[112] Lakshmi released to a positive critical reception for its harshly realistic depiction human trafficking and child prostitution.[114][115] Sudhish Kamath appreciated Shah's performance in a complex role.[116][117]

In 2015, Shah starred in Zoya Akhtar's comedy-drama Dil Dhadakne Do alongside Anil Kapoor as her husband, and Priyanka Chopra and Ranveer Singh as her children.[118] The story is about a wealthy, dysfunctional family who embark on a cruise to celebrate the 30th wedding anniversary of the parents; Shah played Neelam Mehra, the passive-aggressive matriarch caught in a marriage of convenience and hiding her eating disorder.[118][119][120] Shah loved the script and the character but was initially apprehensive about accepting another part of a middle-aged woman and playing a mother to Chopra and Singh; she eventually relented on her husband's advice.[121] Dil Dhadakne Do was one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of 2015.[122] A scene where an emotionally collapsing Neelam is seen binging on a cake in front of the mirror was particularly noted by critics.[123][124][125] Subhash K. Jha found Shah's performance the most effective of the ensemble cast, arguing she "brings to her character an unfussy pitch-perfection rarely seen in mainstream cinema".[126] She received her third Best Supporting Actress Filmfare nomination for the film, and was awarded the Stardust Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as a Screen Award for Best Ensemble Cast along with her co-stars in the film.[127][128]

In Brothers (2015), Karan Malhotra's remake of the American sports drama Warrior (2011), Shah had a minor supporting role.[129] Her character Maria Fernandes is presented in flashbacks as a woman who accepts the child her adulterous husband had out of wedlock.[130] The film generated mixed-to-negative reviews;[131] Vishal Menon of The Hindu thought she had a role which required copious crying but The Hollywood Reporter found her performance heartbreaking.[132][133] Shah voiced the character of Raksha in the Hindi version of the Disney live-action feature The Jungle Book (2016).[134] She next played the fictional part of India's Minister of Home Affairs Leena Chowdhury in the action thriller Commando 2: The Black Money Trail.[135]

Critical acclaim in leading roles (2017–present)

[edit]

In 2017, Shah acted in Juice, a short film about gender inequality in middle-class Indian families. Directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, it stars Shah as Manju Singh, a woman who, after hours spent in the kitchen, acts in defiance of her inconsiderate husband.[136] The film and Shah's performance received favourable reviews.[70][137] Critics noted her ability to communicate emotions through gestures and expressions;[138][139] Kriti Tulsiani wrote that Shah's "unfazed gazes convey more than words will ever say".[140] The film won two Filmfare Short Film Awards at the 63rd Filmfare Awards: Best Film (fiction) and Best Actress for Shah.[141] In years to follow, she credited Juice as the first of several films that helped propel her career forward.[70] In Once Again (2018), an Indo-German Netflix romance film, Shah was cast in the lead as a widowed middle-aged restaurateur who falls in love with an ageing film star played by Neeraj Kabi.[142] Shah said she had long awaited a film of the sort, describing herself as "an incurable romantic".[143] She received compliments for her performance,[137][144] and her chemistry with Kabi drew positive notice.[145][146] Deepa Gahlot of Financial Chronicle appreciated the film's subtlety and took note of Shah's expressive eyes revealing her inner state,[147] an opinion shared by other critics.[144][148]

"Each episode [in Delhi Crime] moves along at a lightning fast pace and at the centre of it is the brilliant Shefali Shah, who is like a tornado that blows through every scene and leaves a permanent mark. It needed a great actress to bring the writing to life and Shefali more than delivers in what is one of the finest performances you will see this year."

—Priya Mulji of Eastern Eye on Shah's performance in Delhi Crime (2019)[149]

Shah's second collaboration with Netflix took place in the 2019 procedural miniseries Delhi Crime, which was written and directed by Richie Mehta.[150][151] Based on the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gang rape, the show stars Shah as Vartika Chaturvedi, a South Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) who is assigned to investigate a brutal gang rape in Delhi.[151][152] The character was modelled after former Delhi DCP Chhaya Sharma.[153] Shah found the part "emotionally, physically, mentally" consuming and would often interact with Sharma throughout filming to learn more about the character.[154] The series opened to universally positive reviews from critics, and Shah's performance met with widespread acclaim.[155][156] Dorothy Rabinowitz of The Wall Street Journal commended Shah for "a movingly understated and complex performance" and Namrata Joshi of The Hindu wrote: "Shah is on top of her game, conflicted yet sure of herself, vulnerable but strong, swayed by emotions yet never giving in to them, bristling equally with anger, concern, disappointments and dejection."[151][157] Delhi Crime was named Best Drama Series at the 48th International Emmy Awards, and won four Asian Academy Creative Awards, including Best Drama Series and Best Actress for Shah.[158][159] She hailed the show as a turning point in her life,[160][161] saying it reassured filmmakers to cast her in primary parts and heralded the busiest period of her career.[162]

In 2020, Shah experimented with writing and directing in two self-starring COVID-19-based short films, Someday and Happy Birthday Mummyji.[163][164] In Someday, which marked her directorial debut, she played a frontline healthcare worker who returns home for a seven-day quarantine due to the pandemic and spends time interacting through a door with her elderly mother, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease.[165] Shah conceived the story based on memories from her mother who had turned caregiver to her grandmother, and shot the film with a five-member crew at her residence over a period of two days.[165][166] The film premiered at the 51st USA Film Festival and was later screened at the 18th Indian Film Festival Stuttgart in Germany.[167][168] In Happy Birthday Mummyji, she played Suchi, a housewife whose preparations for her mother-in-law's birthday party are halted by a sudden national curfew, leaving her home alone and decisive to make the most of the rare opportunity to spend time on herself.[169] Shah wrote the script drawing upon her own life experiences and believed Suchi "represents all the women you know".[164] A single-character film,[170] it opened to positive reviews and attracted some notice for a masturbation scene played by Shah.[72][169][171]

Shefali Shah looking at the camera
Shah in 2022

The 2021 Netflix original anthology film Ajeeb Daastaans, comprising four short stories, featured Shah in the fourth segment "Ankahi", directed by Kayoze Irani. She played Natasha, an unhappily married woman who struggles with her teenaged daughter's hearing loss and falls in love with a hearing-impaired photographer, played by Manav Kaul.[172] She studied sign language in preparation for the part and revealed to have grown so emotionally invested in the story that it left her heartbroken when filming ended.[172][173] "Ankahi" was well-received by critics, with particular emphasis placed on Shah and Kaul's performances.[174][175]

In 2022, Shah starred in Human, a medical streaming television series. Directed by her husband for Disney+ Hotstar, the show explores the nexus between pharmaceutical companies and large private hospitals who conduct human trials for new drugs on lower-class citizens.[176] She played Dr. Gauri Nath, a powerful and ruthlessly ambitious neurosurgeon with a traumatic childhood who owns Manthan, a self-founded multi-specialty hospital. Shah found the negative character of Gauri to be unlike anyone she had ever known.[177] Hindustan Times described Gauri as one of the best characters on Indian digital series yet, calling her an "incredibly disturbed sociopath" and "a vicious snake singularly committed to building her business".[176] Critics reacted positively to Shah's turn, noting her composed demeanor and hushed tone in the part.[178][179]

Later in the year, Shah starred opposite Vidya Balan in the social thriller Jalsa, an Amazon Prime feature film.[180] Her part is that of Rukhsana, a maid whose daughter becomes the victim of a hit-and-run accident. The film opened to a positive response from critics,[181] and Shah received rave reviews for her understated performance.[182] She was named Best Actress at the annual Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.[183] Anuj Kumar of The Hindu commended Shah and her character: "At the cost of repeating oneself, the depth of Shefali's eyes and the emotions that they could hold continues to bewitch and baffle. Her Rukhsana is that vulnerable maid from the margins who makes an attempt to hold on to a life of dignity."[184][185] In the black comedy Darlings (2022), produced for Netflix, Shah and Alia Bhatt star as a mother and daughter who embark on a revenge plan against the latter's abusive husband.[186][187] Shubhra Gupta complimented Shah for a "powerful act", and Anna M. M. Vetticad wrote of Shah's effective blend of comedy and drama in the part.[188][189] Darlings became the highest-viewed non-English Indian original on Netflix.[190][191] At the 2023 Filmfare OTT Awards, Shah received the Best Supporting Actress award in a Web Original Film for her performance.[192]

August 2022 saw the release of the second season of Delhi Crime, based on the chapter "Moon Gazer" from retired police officer Neeraj Kumar's book Khaki Files.[193] Addressing new themes such as class prejudice, the show opened to positive reviews and Shah again received favourable comments for holding the show together with both power and vulnerability.[194][195][196] According to Vogue's Taylor Antrim, Shah is "tremendous in the role" as she "seizes your attention" in her reprisal of Vartika Chaturvedi, who is "intensely serious; fearsome to her subordinates, who call her 'Madam Sir'; and clearly burdened by her job".[197] She received a nomination for the International Emmy Award for Best Actress.[198] Shah next appeared as a strict physician in the medical comedy Doctor G, alongside Ayushmann Khurrana and Rakul Preet Singh, for which she was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.[199][200]

The drama Three of Us (2023), directed by Avinash Arun, stars Shah as Shailaja, a woman who, after being diagnosed with early-stage dementia, decides to make a trip to revisit her childhood and confront her past.[201] Shah said she had to fully immerse in the story to play the fragility and vulnerable state of the character, which was a departure from her recent parts.[202] Co-starring Swanand Kirkire as her husband and Jaideep Ahlawat as her childhood sweetheart, the film was noted by critics, who highlighted the performances of the three leads.[201] Prateek Sur of Outlook described Three of Us as the best film of the year, calling it "a masterpiece in acting".[203] Udita Jhunjhunwala of Mint observed: "Shah opts to play Shailaja with childlike awe and wonder. It’s a curious choice, but the actress owns it."[204] Her performance earned her a second Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress (shared with Rani Mukerji for Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway).[205]

Shah will next reteam with Jaideep Ahlawat in the thriller Hisaab, produced by her husband.[206]

Artistry and reception

[edit]

"I genuinely feel that, if I can say something in four words, I won't use eight; If I can say something in two words, I won't use four; and if I can say it without using a word, I will do it."

— Shah explaining her approach to film acting and her preference for minimal use of words[207]

Shah has been described by critics and the media as one of India's finest actresses.[72][94][208] Describing herself as an instinctive actor, she has confessed to not approaching acting as a craft but rather becoming a person and living each character's struggle, which often proves taxing.[101][102][209] She explained her technique: "Every role takes away a part of me. It's exhausting, it drains me completely, and then enriches me. It's a cycle, but I don't know any other way".[210] Known for her understated acting style, Shah has been noted for her big, expressive eyes and her ability to emote through minimal facial expressions and gestures, and often through silence.[1][9][10] Devansh Sharma described Shah's use of silence as "a leitmotif in all her performances", and Sneha Bengani commented: "Shah has always thrived in silences. Through them, she communicates with easy effortlessness what words almost always fail to."[120][211] In view of her preference for minimalism, she has gained a reputation for asking directors to cut her lines and scenes. Shah explains that cinema being a powerful visual medium which captures actors' faces, sometimes not much spoken text is required and is often redundant.[1][120] Due to her eagerness to be thoroughly versed in details about her scripts and parts, Shah often keeps badgering her directors with questions during filming.[212][213]

Highly selective about her roles and unwilling to compromise her artistic integrity,[214][215] Shah chooses parts by instinct and maintains that unless completely consumed by a project, she will not commit to it.[8][154][216] She does not give importance to the length of a role, but more "the mettle, the potency and the relevance" it has in the film.[214] Some of Shah's characters throughout her career were of women older than herself.[70][105] Her first roles on television when she was in her early twenties, including Savy, the mother of a teenager in Hasratein, made several filmmakers offer her parts of women that far surpassed her actual age.[44][70] She admitted that Hasratein had damaged her career in this regard.[37][38] On one occasion, she had almost played the role of a mother to Amitabh Bachchan, who was twice her age, before she left the project.[44] Although she was initially excited about the acting challenge in playing mature women, she decided to stop accepting such parts, especially after playing the middle-aged part of Bachchan's wife and Akshay Kumar's mother in Waqt (2005), because filmmakers sought to typecast her in similar parts.[70] She explained her choice of Gandhi, My Father (2007) was different as she played Kasturba Gandhi from the character's early adulthood into her later years.[70] Dil Dhadakne Do (2015) was another exception where she was so impressed with the character she could not refuse it.[121]

Shah was one of the leading actresses of Indian television before she left it as she was dissatisfied with the content.[217][218] Following the positive reaction to her performance in Satya in 1998, she expected more film work coming her way whereas the offers she received at the time comprised mostly small character parts.[44] While initially bothered by the limited work available to her in Hindi films, Shah has over years come to terms with the realisation that satisfactory roles would come to her every once in a while.[8][214] This resulted in numerous gaps between her film appearances.[214] The rise of digital streaming platforms, however, rejuvenated Shah's career,[217][219] with parts not otherwise available in films and often written specially for her.[216][218] Delhi Crime proved to be a major turning point in her career, as it brought an influx of film offers, mostly of leading roles which would seldom come her way before.[162] Consequently, she embarked on the busiest period of her professional life, working on six projects throughout 2020 in films and roles the kind of which she had longed for.[211][220] She credited digital platforms with giving her opportunity to invest more in her parts: "The web-series format gives me hours to experiment, explore and indulge and understand my character's nuances."[218]

The reception to Shah's performances has been positive from her initial television work. Her early screen persona on television was that of a woman who, according to Chatura Poojari, is "homely, chatty but with a sensible head firmly screwed onto her shoulders—a regular Indian woman who deals with life by wearing a velvet glove over an iron hand".[44] Shah believes her middle-class background has helped her shape a personality which makes her characters relatable.[120] A 1999 article by The Indian Express said that she "pulls off each and every character with absolute ease".[10] Subhash K. Jha describes her as "an impossibly skilled actress" and, on another occasion, "an actress who forces you to watch her".[221][222] Speaking of her eyes, Devansh Sharma wrote in a review of Once Again (2018), "Her loquacious eyes express rage with as much ease as they do love."[144] Reviewing Jalsa (2022), Monika Rawal Kukreja was highly impressed with Shah's use of just her eyes and expressions to emote.[185] Author and journalist Aparna Pednekar wrote, "Shah's au naturale performances come from an instinctive, savage space, with an abundance of layers simmering beneath a placid smile and soft-spoken personality".[223]

Notes and references

[edit]
  1. ^ The film was coproduced by India, USA, France, Germany, and Italy.[60]
  1. ^ a b c Ghosh, Madhusree (4 December 2020). "I think some people hire me only for my eyes: Shefali Shah on craft, passion and the Delhi Crime Emmy win". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  2. ^ a b Gupta, Pratim D. (23 February 2008). "I want to play my age". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Shefali Shah's low-key birthday celebrations at home". Mid-Day. 26 May 2021. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Shefali Shah sports pigtails, poses with birthday cake in throwback pic from childhood; fans say 'she's still the same'". Hindustan Times. 22 May 2022. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Patil, Vimla (24 January 1999). "A role to remember..." The Tribune. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  6. ^ a b Agrawal, Vinay (February–March 2019). "'Our daughters will be safe if our sons are raised right.'—Shefali Shah". Society. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e Ghosh, Ananya (25 April 2021). "Fifty Shades Of Shefali Shah". Man's World. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Sahani, Alaka (7 April 2019). "'I don't have a long resumé but I'm proud of the work I have done'". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  9. ^ a b Kumar, Anuj (14 September 2018). "The eyes have it". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g "I had never thought of becoming an actress". The Indian Express. 17 February 1999. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  11. ^ "Yes, Shefali has left me!". Cine Blitz. Blitz Publications. January 2000. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  12. ^ Olivera, Roshni (9 August 2001). "'I wasn't happy doing what I was'". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  13. ^ Shah, Shefali (10 May 2020). "Mother's Day Special: 'I am not three any more' writes Shefali Shah". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  14. ^ a b c Khandelwal, Heena (30 July 2021). "Cover story: An actor and now a director, Shefali Shah talks about finding the artist within". Indulge Express. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  15. ^ a b c Coutinho, Natasha (31 October 2017). "Shefali Shah turns painter". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  16. ^ Shetty, Anjali (7 December 2017). "Art has made me more content: Shefali". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 5 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  17. ^ S, Srivatsan (2 December 2021). "Actor Shefali Shah launches into the hospitality business with Jalsa in Ahmedabad". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 9 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  18. ^ a b Srinivas, Eshita (18 February 2022). "Jalsa review: Shefali Shah's first restaurant serves dhaba-like vegetarian fare in Bengaluru". Lifestyle Asia. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  19. ^ Roy, Priyanka (21 November 2011). "Shefali Shah on Jalsa, her 'labour of love'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 April 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  20. ^ "Shefali Shah's new restaurant Jalsa has hand-painted walls, recipes from her kitchen. See photos". Hindustan Times. 10 November 2021. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  21. ^ Ray, Bikramjit. "Not just a restaurant – it's an experience". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  22. ^ a b Sahani, Alaka (25 July 2021). "Shefali Shah: 'I don't want to lose out on the wave I'm riding'". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  23. ^ "Gujarati Theatre". Rasa: Theatre and cinema. Anamika Kala Sangam. 1995. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  24. ^ Awaasthi, Kavita (9 September 2016). "Campus: TV actors recall working on the hit 1990s show". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  25. ^ Awaasthi, Kavita (28 July 2016). "Banegi Apni Baat: How the show brought freshness to Indian TV". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 16 April 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  26. ^ a b Britto, Anita (10 January 2022). "Shefali Shah feels Rangeela was a 'mistake': Exclusive interview". India Today. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  27. ^ a b c Srinivasan, V S (5 August 1998). "She's dynamite!". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  28. ^ a b Sadhwani, Bhavya (22 March 2019). "Shefali Shah Has No Qualms About Doing Less Number Of Roles, As Long As They Are Special Ones". Times Internet. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  29. ^ "Zee Horror Show to Aahat: 5 horror shows 90s kids still remember". India Today. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  30. ^ Singh 2021, p. 212.
  31. ^ "Reel to real". India Today. 25 August 1997. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  32. ^ a b c Deosthalee, Deepa (17 July 1998). "My first break". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  33. ^ Mankekar 2012, p. 193.
  34. ^ Awaasthi, Kavita (29 December 2016). "Hasratein: A story about infidelity and complicated relationships". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 23 January 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  35. ^ Gupta, Shubhra (24 April 1999). "Savi's story". Sunday. ABP Group. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  36. ^ Kaur, Manpreet (2 October 2016). "#ZEEturns24: From Banegi Apni Baat to Hip Hip Hurray, 5 iconic shows we can thank Zee TV for". India Today. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  37. ^ a b Sharma, Murli (25 August 1998). "Earshot". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  38. ^ a b Kumar, Anuj (12 June 2015). "I can even play a dog". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  39. ^ a b "Strong and never silent". The Indian Express. 27 April 1998. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  40. ^ a b "Rich and famous". Screen. 20 February 1997. Archived from the original on 9 October 1999. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  41. ^ a b Sharma, Anil (24 September 1997). "Awake to the wild-life". Screen. Archived from the original on 28 June 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  42. ^ a b Dwyer 2005, pp. 211–2012.
  43. ^ Roy 2011, pp. 98–119.
  44. ^ a b c d e f g Poojari, Chatura (19 February 1999). "Out of the Shadows". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  45. ^ Dasgupta & Datta 2018, pp. 197–198.
  46. ^ Chopra, Anupama (20 July 1998). "Nowhere man". India Today. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  47. ^ "Still waiting for the reward". Screen. Express Group. 26 February 1999. Archived from the original on 6 March 2000. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  48. ^ "Satya: Awards and Nominations". IndiaFM. 11 May 2008. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  49. ^ "Second innings". India Today. 12 April 1999. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  50. ^ a b Sharma, Murli (30 March 1999). "Earshot". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  51. ^ Bajpai, Shailaja (2 August 1999). "Married to the box". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  52. ^ Awaasthi, Kavita (2 September 2016). "Antakshari: Annu Kapoor, Pallavi Joshi share memories of iconic musical show". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  53. ^ Mahadevan 2020.
  54. ^ a b Thaker 2007, p. 515.
  55. ^ "Gujarat State Awards announced Dariya Chhoru is best film". Screen. 28 July 2000. Archived from the original on 24 May 2001. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  56. ^ Khatri, J. A. H. (1 January 2021). "Gujarathi Cinema: From a Historical Perspective". International Journal of Research Culture Society (21). ISSN 2456-6683. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  57. ^ Young, Michelle (17 June 2012). "Lights, camera, resurgence!". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 13 March 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  58. ^ Gokulsing & Dissanayake 2013, p. 99.
  59. ^ Raheja, Dinesh (2000). "Mohabbatein – Maple Syrup". India Today. Archived from the original on 17 April 2001. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  60. ^ Dasgupta, Sinha & Chakravarti 2011, pp. 86–87.
  61. ^ Scheuer & Brill-Scheuer 2007, p. 218.
  62. ^ Sundaram, Suguna (2001). "Salaam Mira". India Today. Archived from the original on 9 November 2001. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  63. ^ Tzanelli 2015, p. 46.
  64. ^ "Monsoon Wedding". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  65. ^ Mitchell, Elvis (22 February 2002). "Film Review; Clashing Ingredients In a Marital Masala". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  66. ^ Chatterjee, Saibal (2 February 2002). "Monsoon Wedding". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 2 February 2002. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  67. ^ "Monsoon Wedding". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  68. ^ "Monsoon Wedding (2002)". The Numbers. Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  69. ^ a b "It was challenging to portray a woman of 50 – Shefali Shah". Bollywood Hungama. 11 April 2005. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  70. ^ a b c d e f g Khandelwal, Heena (4 December 2020). "Shefali Shah: Delhi Crime was extremely consuming, it demanded every ounce of me'". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  71. ^ "Shefali Shah on not wanting to play the roles of mothers to 40-year-olds anymore". Filmfare. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  72. ^ a b c Roy, Priyanka (1 August 2021). "'This is what I've dreamt of'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  73. ^ Elley, Derek (15 August 2007). "Gandhi My Father". Variety. Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  74. ^ Salam, Ziya Us (24 April 2005). "Plenty of moments to remember, smile, savour". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 May 2005. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  75. ^ Jha, Subhash K. (24 April 2005). "Waqt". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 7 May 2005. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  76. ^ Tanwar, Sarita (22 April 2005). "Film review: Waqt". Mid-Day. Archived from the original on 26 November 2005. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  77. ^ Joshi, Namrata (23 January 2006). "15 Park Avenue". Outlook. Archived from the original on 17 November 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  78. ^ Jha, Subhash K. (2 September 2007). "Spectrum". The Tribune. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  79. ^ Andrews, Nigel (1 August 2007). "The bluster behind the bluff". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  80. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (October 2007). "Gandhi My Father". Sight & Sound. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022. India/United Kingdom 2007... Darshan Jariwala as Gandhi and Shefali Shah as his wife Kasturba put in strong performances
  81. ^ Anderson, John (3 August 2007). "Gandhi My Father – Movie Review". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  82. ^ "Shefali ready to break the mould". Hindustan Times. 10 March 2006. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  83. ^ Dalal, Sandipan (4 July 2007). "Keep a calm pose". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  84. ^ Mohamed, Khalid (3 August 2007). "Review: Gandhi My Father". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  85. ^ Bhattacharya, Roshmila (10 August 2007). "Gandhi My Father (Hindi)". Screen. Archived from the original on 1 December 2007. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  86. ^ Ryall, Julian (29 October 2007). "Tokyo fest listens to 'Band'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  87. ^ "Zee Cine Awards 2008". Zee Cine Awards. Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  88. ^ "'The Last Lear's' my best work till date: Shefali Shah". Sify. 16 September 2008. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008.
  89. ^ Nag, Kushali (12 September 2008). "'It's my best role ever'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  90. ^ Chakravarti 2017, p. 117.
  91. ^ Masand, Rajeev (13 September 2008). "Masand's Verdict: The Last Lear is slyly over the top". IBN Live. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  92. ^ Verma, Sukanya (20 March 2022). "Effectively intriguing". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  93. ^ "55th National Film Awards 2007" (PDF). dff.nic.in. Directorate of Film Festivals. 2007. p. 38. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  94. ^ a b c Munjal & Rai 2017: "'Bus Itna Sa Khwab' with Shefali Shah, one of the most talented actors of screen and stage... Those who have not seen Shefali Shah on stage have missed seeing one of the best live performers in this country. For the entire length of a two-hour play she draws the audience in, making them believe her story is part of their story too, that her pain is something they feel too."
  95. ^ Ghosh, Ritujaay (27 February 2008). "The Last Lear's my best work till date: Shefali Shah". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  96. ^ Pandohar, Jaspreet (26 February 2008). "Black And White (2008)". BBC. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  97. ^ French, Philip (9 March 2008). "Review: Black & White". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  98. ^ Mohamed, Khalid (8 March 2008). "Review: Black and White". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  99. ^ Review of Black & White:
  100. ^ Manuel, Mark (10 October 2010). "We're going housefull: Vipul and Shefali Shah". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  101. ^ a b c Bhattacharya, Roshmila; Mazumder, Jayeeta (15 August 2010). "'It's been a liberating experience'". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  102. ^ a b Kumar, Rinky (20 August 2010). "Re-living a dream". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  103. ^ "Shefali gets theatrical". Khaleej Times. City Times. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  104. ^ Tejpal, Minty (27 February 2010). "Your Call". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  105. ^ a b "Finally, I get to play my age". The New Indian Express. 23 May 2011. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  106. ^ a b Kotwani, Hiren (13 May 2011). "Shefali Shah goes to jail". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 3 September 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  107. ^ Gupta, Shubhra (27 May 2011). "Kuchh Luv Jaisa". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  108. ^ Bamzai, Kaveree (27 May 2011). "Kuch Luv Jaisa review". India Today. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  109. ^ Jha, Subhash K. (28 May 2011). "Subhash K. Jha speaks about Kucch Luv Jaisa". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  110. ^ Fadnavis, Mihir (2011). "Kuchh Luv Jaisa is a worthless trip to the land of idiocy". DNA India. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  111. ^ Shekhar, Mayank (27 May 2011). "Mayank Shekhar's review: Kuch Luv Jaisa". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  112. ^ a b James, Nisha; Ranganathan, Shubha (1 March 2016). "From Victimhood to Survivor-Hood: Reflections on Women's Agency in Popular Films on Sex Trafficking in India" (PDF). Psychological Studies. 61 (1): 76–82. doi:10.1007/s12646-015-0344-4. ISSN 0974-9861. S2CID 55050086. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  113. ^ Jha, Subhash K. (25 March 2014). "Shefali Shah on crossing all frontiers to play brothel 'madame'". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  114. ^ Ruhani, Faheem (21 March 2014). "Movie Review: Lakshmi not for the faint hearted". India Today. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  115. ^ Sharma, Suparna (22 March 2014). "Lakshmi, film review: terrifying, inspiring account of a 14-year-old girl sold into prostitution". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  116. ^ Kamath, Sudhish (22 March 2014). "Lakshmi: Innocence lost". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  117. ^ Sharma, Sanjukta (21 March 2014). "Film Review: Lakshmi". Mint. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  118. ^ a b Bari 2017, pp. 3–10.
  119. ^ Guha, Kunal (5 June 2015). "Film review: Dil Dhadakne Do". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  120. ^ a b c d Sharma, Devansh (16 June 2019). "Shefali Shah on playing different shades of an 'everywoman', and using silence as her weapon of choice". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  121. ^ a b "Here's why Shefali Shah was apprehensive about doing Dil Dhadakne Do". Filmfare. 20 July 2021. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  122. ^ "Top Worldwide Grossers 2015". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  123. ^ Masand, Rajeev (7 June 2015). "Dil Dhadakne Do review: It's easy and breezy, and packed with terrific actors". News18. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  124. ^ "Shefali Shah says she refused Kapoor and Sons and Neerja, talks of Dil Dhadakne Do's iconic scene". The Indian Express. 11 June 2021. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  125. ^ Desai, Rahul (30 April 2018). "Top 50 Memorable Bollywood Characters: Neelam Mehra from Dil Dhadakne Do". Film Companion. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  126. ^ Subhash K., Jha (5 June 2015). "Subhash K Jha speaks about Dil Dhadakne Do". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  127. ^ Ghosh, Raya (22 December 2015). "Stardust Awards 2016: Complete List of Winners". NDTV. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  128. ^ Ghosh, Raya. "Screen Awards 2016: Complete List of Winners". NDTV. Archived from the original on 10 January 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  129. ^ Das, Srijana Mitra (18 December 2015). "Movie Brothers Review 2015". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  130. ^ McCahill, Mike (17 August 2015). "Brothers review – Akshay Kumar is lead Weeble in feeble Warrior remake". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  131. ^ "Brothers ... Blood Against Blood". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  132. ^ Menon, Vishal (17 August 2015). "Unintentionally nostalgic movie". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  133. ^ Tsering, Lisa (17 August 2015). "Brothers: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  134. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (21 April 2016). "Localization Makes 'Jungle Book' a Hit in India". Variety. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  135. ^ Guha, Kunal (3 March 2017). "Commando 2 movie review: Vidyut Jammwal's film offers few thrills". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  136. ^ Roy, Reema (June 2020). "A descriptive study of the Content Orientation of Selected Contemporary Indian Short Films" (PDF). Global Media Journal: Indian Edition. 12 (1): 17–19. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  137. ^ a b Joshi, Sonam (3 November 2019). "When age is no bar to a good role (for a woman)". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  138. ^ Menon, Pradeep (24 November 2017). "Juice short film review: Shefali Shah anchors Neeraj Ghaywan's story about patriarchy in Indian homes". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 18 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  139. ^ Mathew, Suresh (24 November 2017). "Juice Is an Unflinching Stare at Everyday Male Entitlement". The Quint. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  140. ^ Tulsiani, Kriti (25 November 2017). "Juice Short Film Review: Watch It Till Shefali Shah's Last Gaze". News18. Archived from the original on 18 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  141. ^ "Winners of Jio Filmfare Short Film Awards". Filmfare. Archived from the original on 13 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  142. ^ Lohana, Avinash (28 August 2018). "Shefali Shah, Neeraj Kabi to team up for Indo-German love story titled Once Again". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  143. ^ Dedhia, Sonil (31 August 2018). "Shefali Shah croons Jagjit Singh's nazm for her film Once Again". Mid-Day. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  144. ^ a b c Sharma, Devansh (1 September 2018). "Once Again movie review: Shefali Shah, Neeraj Kabi's sweet romance would have been richer with more restraint". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  145. ^ Kharude, Dipti (12 September 2018). "Netflix's Once Again Is a Love Letter to Shefali Shah". The Quint. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  146. ^ Gupta, Trisha (15 September 2018). "Old School Romance". India Today. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  147. ^ Gahlot, Deepa (7 September 2018). "Food For Love". Financial Chronicle. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  148. ^ Sharma, Sampada (4 September 2018). "Once Again review: Watch this only for Shefali Shah and Neeraj Kabi's spellbinding performances". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  149. ^ Mulji, Priya (21 June 2019). "Netflix drama based on real-life crime is very gripping". Eastern Eye. Each episode moves along at a lightning fast pace and at the centre of it is the brilliant Shefali Shah, who is like a tornado that blows through every scene and leaves a permanent mark. It needed a great actress to bring the writing to life and Shefali more than delivers in what is one of the finest performances you will see this year.
  150. ^ Mubarak, Salva (2 December 2020). "Shefali Shah talks about getting into the skin of her character on Delhi Crime". Vogue India. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  151. ^ a b c Rabinowitz, Dorothy (21 March 2019). "Delhi Crime Review: Hunt for Justice". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  152. ^ Bhattacharjee 2021, p. 124.
  153. ^ Pathi, Krutika; Drury, Flora (25 March 2019). "Delhi Crime: New drama tells story of bus rape investigation". BBC News. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  154. ^ a b Bhadani, Priyanka (30 March 2019). "Shefali Shah was 'shocked' when she first heard script of Delhi Crime". The Week. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  155. ^ Roy, Priyanka (7 April 2019). "Shefali Shah is riding the success of Delhi Crime". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  156. ^ Chakraborty, Juhi (10 January 2020). "People now trust I can carry an entire project". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022. Her portrayal of a police officer earned widespread acclaim
  157. ^ Joshi, Namrata (22 March 2019). "Netflix's Delhi Crime: Delving into the 2012 Delhi gang rape". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  158. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (23 November 2020). "Delhi Crime, Glenda Jackson, Billy Barratt Triumph at International Emmy Awards". Variety. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  159. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (7 December 2019). "Delhi Crime Wins Big at Asian Academy Creative Awards". Variety. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  160. ^ Bamzai, Kaveree (31 January 2022). "Shefali Shah: The whole point of acting is to be other people". Khaleej Times. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  161. ^ "Delhi Crime a turning point in my life: Shefali Shah". The Indian Express. 25 November 2020. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  162. ^ a b Ramasubramanian, Uma (16 March 2022). "Shefali Shah: Makers saw me in lead roles after Delhi Crime". Mid-Day. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  163. ^ Shah, Shefali (17 December 2020). "Everything I consumed on screen as an escape from 2020 helped me evolve into a filmmaker, writes Shefali Shah". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  164. ^ a b Cyril, Grace (23 July 2021). "Shefali Shah says Happy Birthday Mummy Ji is inspired by her own life. Interview". India Today. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  165. ^ a b "Wasn't sure if I had it in me to direct a film: Shefali Shah on Someday". The New Indian Express. 21 June 2021. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  166. ^ Suri, Rishabh (3 July 2021). "Shefali Shah on her debut directorial short film: I shot in my house with a unit of five people". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  167. ^ Roy Chowdhury, Rishita (7 April 2021). "Shefali Shah's directorial debut Someday selected for 51st USA Film Festival". India Today. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  168. ^ "Shefali Shah's directorial debut Someday to be screened at the 18th Indian Film Festival Stuttgart". Firstpost. 16 June 2021. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  169. ^ a b Rajpal, Roktim (26 July 2021). "Happy Birthday Mummyji short film review: A treat for Shefali Shah fans". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  170. ^ Majumdar, Mayukh (21 September 2021). "We can pretend that women don't have sexual needs but they do – Shefali Shah". Filmfare. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  171. ^ "'Someone asked me if I committed suicide': Shefali Shah on 'masturbation' scene in 'Happy Birthday Mummy Ji'". Free Press Journal. 21 September 2021. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  172. ^ a b Sahani, Alaka (16 April 2021). "Ankahi: A layered tale of love and lies". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  173. ^ Vats, Rohit (19 April 2021). "Here's Why Shefali Shah Cried After Finishing the Last Scene of Ajeeb Daastaans". News18. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  174. ^ Chatterjee, Saibal (16 April 2021). "Ajeeb Daastaans Review: Netflix's Anthology Is Neatly Crafted And Exquisitely Acted". NDTV. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  175. ^ Naahar, Rohan (16 April 2021). "Ajeeb Daastaans movie review: Neeraj Ghaywan saves Karan Johar's uneven Netflix film from disaster". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  176. ^ a b Ghosh, Devarsi (14 January 2022). "Human review: Shefali Shah gives a vicious performance in series about Big Pharma's crimes". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  177. ^ "I don't have set acting patterns to fall back on, says Shefali Shah". The Economic Times. 3 January 2022. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  178. ^ Kanabar, Nirali (23 March 2022). "Shefali Shah admits she had a crush on Aamir Khan, sent him a love letter". India Today. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  179. ^ Reviews of Human:
  180. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (19 March 2022). "Vidya Balan, Shefali Shah Deliver Acting Masterclass in Amazon Film Jalsa". Variety. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  181. ^ "Jalsa". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  182. ^ Mathur, Kajol (23 March 2022). "Jalsa: 5 reasons why you should watch Shefali Shah & Vidya Balan starrer crime drama". GQ India. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  183. ^ "Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Awards 2022 full list of winners: Ranveer Singh and Shefali Shah win big, 83 best film". Hindustan Times. 15 August 2022. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  184. ^ Kumar, Anuj (18 March 2022). "Jalsa movie review: Vidya Balan, Shefali Shah shine in this tryst with truth". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  185. ^ a b Rawal Kukreja, Monika (18 March 2022). "Jalsa movie review: Vidya Balan and Shefali Shah struggle to engage audience with half-baked characters". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  186. ^ Kukreja, Monika Rawal (6 August 2022). "Darlings movie review: Alia Bhatt brings out her quirky best in this dark comedy with questionable story". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  187. ^ "Shefali Shah On Her Kiss Scene With Roshan Mathew In Darlings: That Took Me Completely By Surprise, Ye Kya Ho Gaya". Outlook. 12 August 2022. Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  188. ^ Gupta, Shubhra (5 August 2022). "Darlings movie review: Alia Bhatt raises the bar for movies with meaning". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  189. ^ Vetticad, Anna M. M. (5 August 2022). "Darlings movie review: A faltering black comedy on marital violence that tips Alia Bhatt off balance". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  190. ^ Jha, Subhash K. (26 August 2022). "Really thankful for the success of Darlings, says Alia Bhatt". National Herald. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  191. ^ Roy, Priyanka (26 August 2022). "Team darlings gets candid about the success of their film". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 September 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  192. ^ "Filmfare OTT Awards 2023: Alia Bhatt in Darlings to Vijay Varma for Dahaad, here's complete list of winners". Hindustan Times. 27 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  193. ^ Jhunjhunwala, Udita (27 August 2022). "Delhi Crime Season 2 review: A sharp look at policing and the class divide". Mint. Archived from the original on 27 August 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  194. ^ Mathur, Abhimanyu (26 August 2022). "Delhi Crime 2 review: Shefali Shah-starrer is more brutal, graphic yet still one of the best Indian web series around". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 17 September 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  195. ^ Kumar, Anuj (26 August 2022). "Delhi Crime Season 2 series review: Chasing the moon's shadow". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  196. ^ Vyavahare, Renuka (26 August 2022). "Delhi Crime Season 2 Review: A gritty and immersive police procedural that views crime from a wider lens". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 September 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  197. ^ Antrim, Taylor (26 August 2022). "Why Delhi Crime Season 2 Should Be Your Next Netflix Binge". Vogue. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  198. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (26 September 2023). "Billie Piper, 'The Great British Bake Off' Land International Emmy Nominations". Variety. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  199. ^ Maru, Vibha (9 April 2021). "Shefali Shah to play a doctor in Ayushmann Khurrana's Doctor G". India Today. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  200. ^ "Nominations for the 68th Hyundai Filmfare Awards 2023 with Maharashtra Tourism". Filmfare. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  201. ^ a b Patel, Dipali (5 November 2023). "Three Of Us Review: Backed by powerful performances and thought-provoking writing". India Today. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  202. ^ Bhagat, Shama (5 November 2023). "'I've raised the bar for myself', says actor Shefali Shah". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  203. ^ Sur, Prateek (3 November 2023). "Three Of Us Movie Review: Leave Everything And Go Watch Shefali Shah, Jaideep Ahlawat, Swanand Kirkire's Acting Masterclass". Outlook. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  204. ^ Jhunjhunwala, Udita (4 November 2023). "Three Of Us review: Memories to hold on to". Mint. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  205. ^ "Filmfare Critics Awards 2024: Vikrant Massey Wins Best Actor, Rani Mukerji, Shefali Shah Tied for Best Actress". Times Now. 29 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  206. ^ Bhatia, Aiyana (16 July 2024). "How Shefali Shah and Jaideep Ahlawat surprised the crew of Vipul Shah's Hisaab". Money Control. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  207. ^ Subramanian, Rahul (31 December 2019). The Brand New Show [Shefali Shah Interview] (Talk show). India: Netflix India.
  208. ^ Nullwala, Murtuza (16 June 2021). "Shefali Shah's Someday to be screened at Indian Film Festival Stuttgart". Eastern Eye. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  209. ^ Rathi, Vasundhara (24 April 2019). "Acting gives me a tremendous high, says Shefali Shah of Delhi Crime fame". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  210. ^ Datar, Saraswati (16 May 2021). "Shefali Shah's best is yet to be: Now Stree-ming". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  211. ^ a b Bengani, Sneha (16 August 2022). "Let's Talk About Women | Shefali Shah is unstoppable, Darlings proves it again". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 16 August 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  212. ^ Singh, Suhani (14 January 2022). "Shefali Shah: Delighting in the detail". India Today. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  213. ^ Sinha, Seema (17 March 2022). "Shefali Shah on working with Vidya Balan in Jalsa: 'She is an incredible actor, I don't see myself in her league'". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  214. ^ a b c d Chakraborty, Juhi (31 August 2018). "The work that I want to do doesn't come every day and I have come to terms with it: Shefali Shah". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  215. ^ Roy, Lachmi Deb (14 February 2022). "I Am Euphoric, Ecstatic And All Superlatives You Can Find: Shefali Shah". Outlook. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  216. ^ a b Mona (16 March 2022). "Shefali Shah, who will soon be seen in the show Jalsa on Amazon Prime Video, says OTT is a very powerful medium". The Tribune. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  217. ^ a b Sur, Prateek (19 January 2022). "Shefali Shah: I Don't Think I Would Go Back To Television". Outlook. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  218. ^ a b c Roy, Arghyo (30 January 2022). "OTT has changed my career graph: Shefali Shah". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  219. ^ Mruthyunjaya, Vijay (1 October 2022). "Shefali Shah, the undisputed OTT star". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  220. ^ Kanabar, Nirali (13 January 2022). "Shefali Shah says 'did 6 projects in 2021, haven't done so much work in my career'". India Today. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  221. ^ Jha, Subhash K. (18 March 2022). "Jalsa: Powerful, probing look at suburban class structure". National Herald. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  222. ^ Jha, Subhash K. (11 September 2008). "Subhash K. Jha speaks about The Last Lear". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  223. ^ Pednekar, Aparna (4 December 2017). "Shefali Shah on being part of Neeraj Ghaywan's short film Juice and her artistic inclinations". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.

Sources

[edit]
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shefali Shah.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shefali_Shah&oldid=1248764828"