She’s just two films old but she’s confident in her skin. Fatima Sana Shaikh, who made a sparkling debut in Nitesh Tiwari’s Dangal (2016), is gearing up for the release of two films now, and in the process, she says that she’s figuring out what kind of actress she is. Relieved that people haven’t forgotten her despite a two-year-gap between previous and forthcoming release, Fatima Sana Shaikh spoke to Bombay Times about the upcoming Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari, finding her feet in a cut-throat business and how we all have to brave this pandemic to tell the tale. Excerpts:

I am so relieved that finally kuch toh aaya itne time ke baad. People must have thought I had left, woh do picturein karke (laughs!). Frankly, I have worked hard and now when people are watching the songs and trailers of both the films (Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari and Ludo), I feel happy and relieved that baat aage badhi. Also, I am over that feeling of anxiousness. A lot of things have happened since our last chat. The world around us has changed. Ab mujhe apni bahut saari problems choti lagti hain. I feel I am in a better place than so many others. I am grateful for that.

It was a combination of things. The cast is brilliant. I loved the script. I’ve also loved Abhishek Sharma’s films — Tere Bin Laden (2010) and Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran (2018). The project ticked many boxes for me. Plus, the era is familiar to me. I’m a 1990s kid. I belong to that generation. It’s an urban character and it didn’t feel like this was too far off. What I also feel is that emotions are the same, irrespective of which time zone the story is set in. The tools to connect and communicate change, but we still say the same things. I got a lot of help from the film’s writing. It was nuanced. My character is from a simple, Maharashtrian family. She’s sincere and shaant, but she has another side which she keeps away from the family.

Frankly, there was no struggle. With Ludo, one had no clue what we were shooting the next day. Dada (Anurag Basu) always asked us to trust him and to go with the flow. I followed his instructions to the T and now whatever it is, it’s his doing entirely. He drew out the performances from all of us. But I have to admit that I had fun working with him. With Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari, I was stressed to deliver my best while enacting scenes with so many talented names. There was no room for me to fumble. The only difficult task at hand was to bring in the Maharashtrian accent and internalise the qualities of the character I am playing. But I didn’t have to switch on and off much between my roles in both the films. Other than these things, I am still figuring out what sort of an actress I am. I think I am learning a lot on the sets of my films, while I am doing scenes. I don’t know much about the artiste in me. I hope I find her soon, bas woh karte karte kahin barbaad na ho jaaoon.

I think I am more comfortable playing characters than playing myself. While playing a part, you can be who you want to be without being judged. Even if you are expressing your own emotions on the screen while doing that, it’s still something that you’re enacting which is written by someone else. No one will judge you for that. I feel very liberated in front of a camera. I can be anything and anyone. There is nothing better than having the chance to live so many lives and emotions in one lifetime.

These things don’t affect me at all. People have time to talk about this today. Tomorrow, they will find some new topics to discuss. I don’t get upset about nepotism and unfairness. Every industry and every generation has seen things which are unfair. It has always been about the survival of the fittest. Nepotism is a part of every industry, not just cinema. If I have gone through the struggle, made a lot of effort and created a space under the sun, I would like my child to be the next in line for the space that I created. I wouldn’t like him or her to go through the grind. It would be totally unfair if there was no opening for outsiders. We have Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Manoj Bajpayee and others who are stars, despite being outsiders to the business. I am getting work. Siddhant Chaturvedi is an outsider whose work speaks for itself. So many of us have been embraced by this industry. So, what is the point of cribbing? We knew when we entered that there will be an Us v/s Them situation; it was an unfair game from the word go. If you want things to change, you will have to make the change yourself. That will create a tomorrow which is different from today. Being bitter is not an answer to anything. Voicing opinions is great, attacking is not.

It feels normal; as humans, we adjust and adapt so quickly to things around us. As a race, we have seen so many things and braved it all to tell the tale. Wearing a mask is second nature now. Six months ago, it would have felt like an ordeal. It doesn’t hurt anymore.