Things are slowly opening up after the devastating second wave of Coronavirus crisis, and soon theatres would also come alive, along with the hustle and bustle of the film world. But would the hesitation to get in a darkened space with strangers go away? Not anytime soon, feels actor Shefali Shah.

“I don’t even know when we can ever go back to a theatre without worrying. I really don’t know. Even after it opens, people would hesitate to go inside. I know I would have my hesitations,” Shah tells us, elaborating, “Unless they are going to leave two seats between every viewer... But even that isn’t good enough. It’s a confined space. I would worry about going to a theatre [for sometime].”

That said, the Dil Dhadakne Do (2015) actor credits OTT platforms for being the saviour, and getting “world cinema in our house”. “With the digital space, you can see whatever you want in the confines of your home. OTT has been the one thing that was keeping us like, achchha theek hai. Otherwise, everybody was going crazy. Everybody is still going crazy,” admits Shah, who is also navigating the web space with varied roles.

From the role of a police officer investigating the case of the brutal gang-rape in Delhi Crime to a conflicted mother in Ajeeb Daastaans, the 48-year-old is part of a new narrative of stories in the digital space, and credits the introduction to global content for it.

Shah elaborates, “Because you know that you are pitted against the world, we are getting out of our own comfort zone, and saying, ‘Listen, let’s push this’. Like, when Delhi Crime released, it dropped in 190 countries in one go. So, you are trying to match up to their level, which is very high.”