14 years after his directorial debacle Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota, Naseeruddin Shah keen to take baby steps towards filmmaking
Uma Ramasubramanian (MID-DAY; September 1, 2020)

Always game for a new adventure, Naseeruddin Shah sealed his place in the digital world with Amazon Prime Video's Bandish Bandits. Even as his performance in the musical drama is winning praise, the veteran has set his sights on a new goal — to helm a short film. The actor, who had previously tried his hand at direction with Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota (2006), says its failure had put him off filmmaking.

"My confidence as a filmmaker was badly shaken by the film I made. I am not able to summon the confidence to direct again. It's not a movie I am proud of; it didn't turn out well because of my shortcoming as a director," says Shah. However, 14 years since, he wants to take baby steps towards exploring the art again. "I want to set that right by directing a short film."

For now though, Shah is taking in the joys of digital entertainment. He believes the medium is liberating for writers and filmmakers. "They don't have the burden of censorship or having to take a saleable route [for box-office numbers]. For actors, [working on a web series] is like living a long film; it is almost like doing a Shyam Benegal film."