Singer Shweta Pandit, known for her songs in several Hindi films as well as a few acting appearances, has stepped into international cinema with her Italian film debut in filmmaker Nanni Moretti’s Succederà Questa Notte, which recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Shweta, who has earlier acted in Bejoy Nambiar’s David and the series 24 alongside Anil Kapoor, plays an important role in the film. Her association with the project came through her husband, Ivano Fucci, who line-produced the film’s Indian shoot.

Sharing her experience of working on an international production, Shweta says the process was markedly different from what she had experienced before. “It was a great experience working with an international production that came to Mumbai. My costumes, role, the specifics, everything was on paper. Even where I was standing or what I had to do was written in the script. It was all very spectacularly done,” she says.

The experience became particularly memorable when Moretti praised her performance and personally wrote her a note. “Nanni said he found me very expressive and also wrote a handwritten note for my work. To get a compliment from such a legendary Italian filmmaker says something about the hard work I put into the scene,” Shweta says.

Working with Moretti also meant navigating a language barrier. Since the filmmaker speaks only Italian, Fucci translated his instructions for her. Shweta, however, went a step further and learnt Italian for the film. “It was such a learning experience. Since Nanni speaks only Italian, my husband Ivano Fucci translated everything for me. But I learnt how to speak Italian for the film,” she says.

Loosely based on Eshkol Nevo’s short-story collection The Lonely Ones, the film also stars Louis Garrel, Jasmine Trinca, Angela Finocchiaro, Elena Lietti and Antonio De Matteo.