Shahana Goswami on Neeyat: We knew it was going to be mad... the tonality of the film is such

Shahana Goswami plays Lisa, the newly minted girlfriend of a billionaire, in Anu Menon’s Neeyat.

Shahana Goswami made her acting debut in 2006 and got her first big movie with Rock On! in 2008. Seventeen years later, she’s experiencing the busiest phase of her career with multiple web series and movies in the last three years. Her international acting work includes Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children and Mira Nair’s A Suitable Boy, but in the Hindi filmed world, her recent work includes Bombay Begums, Hush Hush and Zwigato. She will soon be seen playing Lisa, the newly minted girlfriend of a billionaire, in Anu Menon’s Neeyat, headlining Vidya Balan.

Goswami shared thoughts on her upcoming multi-starrer and the roles she feels most proud of. Excerpts:

‘Neeyat’ has this big, eclectic cast. What was it like being a part of this ensemble?

When we got on board the project, we knew it would be mad because as you can see from the trailer, the tonality of the film is such. It's got this kind of tongue-in-cheek aspect to it while being a thriller and the characters are a bit bizarre. These characters really shoulder a lot of the storytelling and the film. I think the last time I worked in a big ensemble was when I did Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd, in 2007. I wasn't even in the main ensemble, but that was a wonderful experience. Even with Neeyat, we had a great time working together. That element of play and fun was there throughout, even off set. And they're all great actors. You'd see each other's transformation as soon as the camera was on and we're quite a mutual admiration society. Director Anu Menon had a vision of which actors she wanted specifically. And in terms of the scenes, we didn't have the luxury of time to do rehearsals. We did a script reading and then we would rehearse for an hour and a half to choreograph the entire scene but with enough space left for funny nuances and improvisations to also come in. The energy was amazing.

Neeyat poster

What can you tell us about your character?

Her name is Lisa. She's the girlfriend of this billionaire. She's a funny, weird and quirky character who is trying to find her way into the family and into her new rich boyfriend’s inner circle. What drew me to her was the fact that nobody would imagine me as Lisa or offer me a part like Lisa. But it just happened in a certain way in the progression of things in the film, where I kind of suggested that maybe I could play her and the makers said why not. I love the fact that I have Pratima (Zwigato), who is on one end of the spectrum, and then I have Lisa at the other end. That's the point. That's why we want to act.

Speaking of Pratima, how did you find the essence of this character who is the soul of ‘Zwigato’?

What stood out about her for me, especially in the terms of what the film was about, was that she has an innate sense of optimism and positivity in her. She is content with what she has, happy in her present day, at a basic level. Of course, there are struggles, there are things to complain about. But at a very basic level, she likes the world that she has created for herself. That was an interesting aspect. I relate to it also because I too look at the glass as half full, sometimes imagining it to be more than half full. So that part was not difficult. More difficult was tapping into the authenticity of being. There is a very thin line between who is appropriate to play a certain part and who can become a part, and how much seems like acting and how much is natural. For example, if a character is sexually oriented in a particular way or of a different social class, you have to learn how to get into that. I am conscious of the fact that I do not belong and that I must seem like I belong from there. That was a challenge for me. Till the end I doubted my ability to do that, and I do value other people's appreciation.

What about international work? Your last international project was Mira Nair’s ‘A Suitable Boy’.

There's one more international project helmed by a British-Indian director that I'm looking forward to. It’s set in the police world and will be filmed in India. Besides this I have a few things happening here, such as Kanu Behl’s Despatch and a short film with Rima Das, which was part of an anthology. I am lucky that I've worked for 17-18 years continuously, without ever feeling jaded. I've had a great time on every project. I've made friends. Using my instinct to pick things is what keeps me going. If something doesn't suit me, or doesn't click for me, I won't do it.

You've not been an actor in a hurry. Whereas in the last three to four years, momentum has picked up. Would you say you are picky?

Picky is right. I pick based on what resonates with me. That's not to say that I wouldn't want to do more work. But I wanted to match up to my idea of what I want to do. And I think that there is enough work which is coming up to the mark in terms of vision, freedom, flow, writing, and other things that make a project interesting and intriguing. How it does eventually is not something I can control. But the intent behind it, the collaborative feel of the project, is what intrigues me enough to draw me in and then to come together with a bunch of people creatively, grow with them and create a vision together.

In the 17 years as an actor, which role are you most proud of or one that you think is underrated?

There are a few. There's a film called Vara: A Blessing, directed by Khyentse Norbu, a monk and a filmmaker. It did the festival circuit, including Busan and Tribeca in 2013. I was very nervous about that film because I had to play a much younger version of myself and, honestly, I was never very young, even when I was young. I was quite a precocious child. So, playing a 19-year-old innocent and youthful girl was a bit of a challenge. Besides, the character itself is in love with God and would talk to God like a lover. I didn't know if I'd be able to play it out. But when I watched myself, I felt I did it well.

I like parts of my performance as Mumtaz in Midnight's Children (2012). Again, I was playing a wide range from 19 to 45 years, and I really liked the experience of working on that. There's a Bangladeshi film called Under Construction in which the character was very different from me. Even though she seems similar to me, in that she's an actress in her mid 30s, at a crossroads in her life. I was intrigued to see my performance in that. Lastly, I would say A Suitable Boy, only because I wasn't sure I'd be able to play a part with that flamboyance.

You have worked with a remarkable number of women filmmakers, from Rima Kagti to Nandita Das, Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta and Tanuja Chandra. Coincidence?

Yes, I think it's a bit of a coincidence. I've actually worked with way more female directors but it’s not been a conscious choice. It's not that I've been offered parts by male directors or writers that are bad. I've been offered parts by female directors that may not have resonated either. So, it's a coincidence. But it's amazing and I'm very proud that I have actually worked with almost an equal number of, if not more, female directors. I really appreciate certain male filmmakers and would like to work with them, such as working with Sudhir Mishra again. I would also love to work with Anubhav Sinha, Anurag Kashyap and Dibakar Banerjee. These are people whose work I admire.

Neeyat releases in theatres on July 7.