The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : I whacked Nandita Das: Shafi

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Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

I whacked Nandita Das: Shafi

Swathi. V

Actor stays in Lambada hamlets to prepare for ‘Kamli’

— Photo: Nagara Gopal

on a roll: Actor Shafi is getting rave reviews for his work in the National Award winning ‘Kamli’.

HYDERABAD: Starring beside somebody as celebrated as Nandita Das, and that too with her role designed to hog all the limelight, would have left little choice for an artiste to prove his worth, had he not been Shafi.

Armed with a post-graduate certificate from National School of Drama in Delhi and the exposure thereof, Shafi of ‘Khadgam’ fame knows which side of his bread is buttered. No wonder then that his role in the National Award winner ‘Kamli’ got him rave reviews.

“Mine was a weak character in the movie compared to that of Nandita Das. But by exercising autonomy to certain level, I could provide stamina to the role and make it stand out,” he told The Hindu. The effervescent youth explains his autonomy in the movie that went to the extent of hitting Nandita Das.

“There was the particular scene in the film where Kamli gives birth to a boy much to the chagrin of her reprobate husband. My role there was limited to cursing her. But I felt the need for certain amount of physical abuse and with the consent of the director, hit her. This was totally unexpected for Nandita, though she carried it off well,” he says.

No cakewalk

Portraying a Lambada is no cakewalk for a non-Lambada. Shafi spent about 15 days observing Lambada hamlets in Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda and Hyderabad.

This helped him to behave, emote, fight and even sing like a typical Lambada male.

“I would have never known certain aspects had I not been to NSD, such as reflections of childhood in a man’s persona. It helped me a lot in character study,” the actor reveals.

He attributes the credit of his stint in NSD to his late father who always said that one should get trained in whatever field one chose.

Commercial flicks

Not averse to commercial movies, Shafi looks forward eagerly to his roles in the Apurvachitra Banner’s next ‘Ee Vooru Chala Manchidi’, and two other Tamil films.

He has also been booked by Nandita Das for her directorial debut ‘In Such Times’.

A film by Srinu Vaitla is ready for release while another by Ram Gopal Varma is round the corner.

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