Shefali Shah laments that the FerozE Abbas Khan directorial could not make it as India’s entry to the Oscars
MUMBAI: She’s just won the Best Actress Award for her performance as Kasturba (wife of the Mahatma) in ‘Gandhi My Father’ (‘GMF’) at the Tokyo Film Festival. But Shefali Shah is more disappointed that the Feroze Abbas Khan directorial didn’t make the cut to the Oscars, as she feels that it was much more deserving than Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s ‘Eklavya’.
“I’ve seen ‘Eklavya’ and I definitely feel that ‘GMF’ was a much better choice. Every Indian must watch this film. Our culture, our traditions are represented in it. It was a worthy contender for the Oscars,” Shefali says over the phone from Australia, where she is currently on a holiday.
Does she feel then, that the criteria of selection for films should be changed? “I’m not well-versed with the politics that goes on in the selection of films. But I do feel that there should be a standard that we should follow,” she asserts.
Inspite of getting rave reviews, Shefali does not rue the fact that ‘GMF’ did not do well at the box-office. “Sometimes, the film doesn’t click with the audiences, but that doesn’t mean that it is not appreciated. Everybody loved my work in ‘GMF’. It was a film that I believed in. I am happy about that,” she says.
So why wasn’t she there to receive the award at Tokyo then? “Oh, I wasn’t even aware that I was up for an award or that the film was sent to the festival. It was only when Feroze sent a message that I learnt about it. It is sad that I couldn’t be there. I don’t hold anything against the makers of the film though. I’m happy with the appreciation I’ve received,” she says.
Right now, Shefali is eagerly awaiting the release of her next film, Rituparno Ghosh’s much-awaited project ‘The Last Lear’, which she says is a turning point in her career.
“There comes a film, which changes your acting patterns. For me, that film is the ‘Last Lear’. Working with Rituparno has been a great experience. It’s a film to look forward to,” she explains.
While Shefali is content to holiday in Australia, her husband and film-maker Vipul Shah is getting his home production under way there. “Vipul (Shah) has been here for a month and he’s going to be here for another month more while he plans his production ‘Singh is King’. I am in Australia to see as many places I can,” she ends.
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