Shefali Shah has revealed that her husband and filmmaker Vipul Shah had initially advised her against playing a mother in his 2005 directorial ‘Waqt: The Race Against Time’, when she was barely in her 30s.
Shah eventually took on the role of Sumi, the mother of Akshay Kumar’s character, after other casting options fell through. Her casting raised eyebrows at the time, with the actor being younger than Kumar in real life. She now says the decision had a lasting impact on the kind of roles she was offered.
Shah has revisited the experience in her debut book, ‘The Audacity of Being: A Sort-of Memoir’.
Jaya Bachchan, Hema Malini were considered
According to Shah, Vipul initially wanted veteran actor Jaya Bachchan for the role. Hema Malini was also considered, but the idea was eventually dropped because it felt too similar to the Amitabh Bachchan-Hema Malini starrer ‘Baghban’, which had released in 2003.
"The mother, Sumi, was the anchor of the story -- the silent strength between the father and the son. Vipul had originally wanted Jaya ji, but that did not work out. Hema Malini ji was another great choice, but it felt too much like a repeat of ‘Baghban’, a film that Amit ji and Hema ji had done only a while ago,” Shah wrote.
‘Waqt’, which also featured Priyanka Chopra, was based on ‘Aavjo Vhala, Fari Malishu’, a play written and directed by Aatish Kapadia.
Shah said she became interested in Sumi after watching the play and asked Vipul if she could take up the role.
“He flat out said no and insisted it would not work, warning me that it would label me as a ‘mother’ on screen forever,” she wrote.
Amitabh Bachchan changed the casting decision
The situation changed when Amitabh Bachchan, who was the “unanimous and only choice” for the father’s role, suggested that Vipul consider Shah.
“Now, that was something Vipul could not turn down,” she wrote.
For Shah, the film was an “opportunity of a lifetime” as it brought her together with two people she admired — Bachchan and her husband.
She recalled once dreaming of standing outside Bachchan’s home just to see him wave.
“He is a legend who is so humble and treats you as an equal -- someone who puts you at ease,” she wrote.
'I was bombarded with mommy roles'
Looking back, Shah said she had underestimated how the casting would affect her career. In an interview with PTI, she said she had expected audiences and filmmakers to see the role as proof of her versatility.
"I was naive enough to think that people would see it as, you know, it would be admired. Like, oh, wow, she can do this too, as an actor. She’s as old as this, and then she can play a role which is much older than her. But that’s not how it works. It’s absolutely not how it works,” Shah said.
“And it didn’t. And it’s not that I could pinpoint the blame on that particular decision. But I’m sure that decision had a lot to play with what I got offered after that,” she told PTI.
In her book, Shah recalled fearing that she would become the industry's “next Nirupa Roy”, referring to the veteran actor known for playing self-sacrificing mothers in films including ‘Deewar’ and ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’.
“After Waqt, I was bombarded with ‘mommy’ roles,” she wrote.
Despite the professional consequences, Shah said she continues to value ‘Waqt’ for giving her the chance to work alongside Bachchan.
‘The Audacity of Being’, priced at Rs 599 and published by Bloomsbury India, is currently available across online and offline stores.