Before the country was put under lockdown, Shashank Arora was occupied with Dibakar Banerjee's Freedom, which is still underway
Uma Ramasubramanian (MID-DAY; August 16, 2020)

Often among the cast members who like to loiter around the set to get comfortable with the surroundings, Made In Heaven actor Shashank Arora found himself bound to his vanity van when filming in Delhi, amid the Coronavirus pandemic. "It's scary and has definitely taken a toll on me. I'm sure it will affect all the actors. Shooting is getting tougher, and actors need to work harder," says Arora.

Before the country was put under lockdown, Arora was occupied with Dibakar Banerjee's Freedom, which is still underway. "The Netflix Original features Naseer sir [Naseeruddin Shah], Manisha Koirala, and a wonderful bunch of actors. It will be shot in Mumbai this year. I have to devote five to 10 days to it," says Arora, who collaborated with Banerjee for the second time after they initially worked together in Titli (2015).

"Dibakar was the producer on that project, and he rarely came on set. When I met him for Freedom it felt like a fresh interaction. I love collaborating with him because he is one of the most gentle, and clear-headed directors I have worked with. He knows exactly how to take the story ahead."

Shashank Arora, bhai to Bollywood's bhai, Salman Khan, on building a rapport with actor during Bharat shoot
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; April 12, 2019)

As it would have been with his contemporaries as well, Shashank Arora did not ask for any other detail when Ali Abbas Zafar approached him for the role of Salman Khan's brother. "I didn't have any knowledge about the film, and only learnt, when things were finalised, that I was set to work on Bharat," says the actor, sheepishly.

Given the command Khan enjoys on set, Arora says he can be intimidating if not given the "space he deserves". "Salman sir needs his space because he deserves it; he has earned it. He is a force of nature, and if you intrude, you will feel intimidated. I always got to share [screen] space with him, and, in the process, we built a rapport. Egos were absent. In fact, since the film is set in four to five different time periods, it was interesting to reconnect in a new avatar."

Having shined in small-budget films like Titli (2014) and Brahman Naman (2016), Arora cherished the process of working on the "biggest set" he's been on. "I have never been part of such a big production, so this was new. The scale was huge and we had some of the finest technicians from around the globe working with us. There was a lot to learn."

Currently busy with his upcoming web show, Gangster Newton, Shashank Arora on why it’s important for filmmakers to be passionate about craft of storytelling
Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; May 15, 2018)

Shashank Arora is a man who dons many hats, and each one, with panache. Currently filming for actor Nakuul Mehta’s production, the web show Gangster Newton, the writer, music composer and actor is now set to explore direction too. Apart from his upcoming Indian project, Manto, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Purab Kohli and Paresh Rawal, Arora is also awaiting the release of Songs Of Scorpions. The latter features Golshifteh Farahani, Irrfan Khan and Waheeda Rehman and is set to release next month. When we meet him at his Goregaon apartment, he talks to us about juggling multiple roles, and turning down big projects. Edited excerpts from the interview.

Your upcoming web show, Gangster Newton, has an unusual title. Tell us about it.
It’s about a young Maharashtrian boy who fails to find a job despite being an IIT topper. He has struggled all his life, and despite being studious, doesn’t get a job. He never made friends or fell in love, because he wanted to study and be an achiever. In the end, a garage owner gives him a job. He later realises that there is something sinister going on in the garage and they [the workers] are part of a mafia gang. He kills everyone and rises to the top [to be part of the mafia circle]. He has no physical strength, and only uses his mind to make his move. He uses mathematics to fight and calls himself Newton.

What is the status of the project?
We are yet to shoot the entire series. Since everyone got busy with other projects, this one took a backseat. But, we will wrap it up this year. We don’t have a The Big Bang Theory [American show, based on geeks] here. We don’t have to copy them, but the effect it [the show] has had on the population is brilliant.

Is the show expected to have violence?
There will be a bit of it, but ultimately, it is a story of a boy and his use of maths. Every episode is based on a [real-life] scientist and that is more than I should have said. There is nothing like it in the web space right now.

Are you consciously choosing non-commercial projects?
My decisions have been organic. I have refused conventional roles since Titli (2015) released. I refuse to do films where I can’t bring something to the table or grow as an actor. I want to serve the audience with something good.

There were reports of you turning down some big-ticket projects. Were those decisions easy to take? 
I did feel scared and worried that if I gave the wrong impression, I would be ignored in the industry. But it depends on how you say no. If you have a legitimate reason, the person will understand. I never let the producers feel there is something lacking in the project. I ask two questions before I agree to take up a role: ‘Why does this person want to tell this story’ and ‘do they like telling stories’. If a filmmaker is making a film for money alone, they will not be able to tell the story. Money is important, but it is not my primary motive.

But not all projects you take up can be successful, take the example of Rock On 2 (2016).
I liked the script [of Rock On 2]. It was a story of a band that was trying to make people aware of the plight of farmers. But certain films don’t turn out the way you expect them to. [Even today] I don’t see Rock On as something I wouldn’t be part of.

You’ve dabbled in various fields. What part of the business comes naturally to you?
Music and writing comes easier than acting and direction.

Are you composing anything new?
I am composing for a Malayalam film called Moothon, which has been written by Anurag Kashyap. It stars Nivin Pauly and sees me as the villain. It is about a boy who comes to Mumbai in search of his brother. It was shot in Kamathipura, Dharavi and Andaman. We are expecting a year-end release.

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 12, 2017)

It was a frustrating time for filmmaker Shlok Sharma and his leading actress, Shweta Tripathi, when their debut film Haraamkhor struggled to get a release date for four years. While Masaan went on to give Shweta’s her first acting credit in 2015, Haraamkhor was mired in controversies owing to its subject and struggled to find buyers. That’s when Shlok pitched another concept to the actress and the two rolled with India’s first feature film to be shot on an iPhone, Zoo.

Now, backed by producers Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane, the film is gearing up for its world premiere this October at the upcoming edition of the Busan International Film Festival. A dark, urban take on people trapped inside metaphorical cages, it has Shweta in the role of a drug-addled teen, Misha Mehta, who is constantly fighting her inner demons. Brahman Naman-actor Shashank Arora features as her drug dealer, the only person she interacts with regularly. “The film was shot over 30 days in Mumbai. To look like an addict, I gave up sugar and carbs for three months. I didn’t want people to see Shweta in the character at all,” the actress recalls, adding that she also lived in the room that features in the film. “Misha never leaves her room as she is spiralling down the rabbit hole of guilt. To get into character, I restricted myself to the same room. My urban avatar in Zoo is a far cry from the poetry-loving Shaalu Gupta of Masaan,” Shweta adds.

The 32-year-old actress points out that it is great to work with makers who are steadfast in their support to troubled films, like Guneet Monga stood by Haraamkhor. “Anurag and Vikram watched Zoo together and decided to back it. It brings a sense of validation when established makers back your film. Experimental cinema needs all the support it can get,” Shweta explains, pointing out that even though she’s moved on, Haraamkhor is still garnering accolades on the festival circuit. It will be screened at the South Asian Film Festival in Paris next month. “The festival feathers in the credits of your film are the greatest satisfaction,” she says.

Signing off on a philosophical note, the pint-sized actress says that Zoo holds the mirror to modern urban relationships in the age of social media, when youngsters are weaving their own reality and getting trapped in it too. “Society and family have a big role to play in who teenagers like Misha become. Everyone seems to be pulling each other down. We’re trying to tell an honest story about the increasing disconnect with the real world,” she says.

Following a string of failed auditions, his debut took him to Cannes, his second to Sundance
Kunal Guha (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 2, 2016)

"I hope you don’t mind if I keep my shades on,” says Shashank Arora, as he settles down for breakfast at an all-day eatery in Versova. The actor made waves with his piercing gaze as the lead in last year’s disturbing tale of desperate measures, Titli. The reason for hiding behind his kaala chashma, he continues, is because he can barely keep his eyes open. “I was dubbing for Rock On 2 till 4:30 this morning,” he says of his upcoming release, where he plays a bassist in a rock band. Also on the cards for Shashank, is Alankrita Shrivastava’s Lipstick Under My Burkha and Qissa director Anup Singh’s The Song of Scorpions, which stars Irrfan Khan, Waheeda Rahman and Iranian actor Golshifteh Farahani. “Galti se I’m also there in it,” he says cheekily of the latter.

“When I first came to Mumbai, following a film course in Montreal, I auditioned for every role — films, TV, commercials — but didn’t nail a single one. From Famous Studios to Aaram Nagar, I walked as much as the next guy and eventually took up art direction for a horrible TV show which didn’t even pay me.” It is then that it dawned on the 27-year-old that “Mumbai was a city of business” and that breaking into Bollywood was about more “than just the craft”. “My mom and dad have always taken care of me, so I was never into it for the money. But then, people took advantage of this and wouldn’t pay me.”

Following a string of rejections, when Shashank was on the verge of a breakdown, his dad suggested he approach the art “like it were a science”. “Acting is something one can invest the entire life in learning, so I joined Whistling Woods,” the Delhi-born actor says. He credits his professor, Robert Reece, for teaching everything he knows. “Most actors say that they ‘feel it’. But what is the process to conjure an emotion required in a scene, is what I learnt from him.” Reece even hired him as an assistant at the film school for a year, posing a more pertinent question. “If I was good enough to teach, why wasn’t I getting a single break? But teaching taught me a lot and I convinced myself that cracking auditions has little to do with my knowledge and kept at it.”

He even took a job with casting director Saher Latif (Furious 7, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) on the condition that she’d allowed him to audition for every part that came her way. While nothing materialised from this arrangement, in 2012 Shashank met writer-director Kanu Behl, who offered him hope. “Kanu told me he’s writing something and that I should come and see him in a year.” When he did, he learnt that he hadn’t made the cut. “Then he (Behl) asked me to make tea for him and I went into kitchen. That’s when he said that Dibakar (Banerjee) and Aditya Chopra (the producers) liked my audition and I was cast for the lead in Titli. I broke into tears. Just a day prior to that, I was willing to do a one-scene role as a security guard. I thanked him and left his apartment, and sat down on the street and called my dad to share the news. Then, I got myself a beer at 12:30 in the afternoon.”

Shashank’s performance didn’t go unnoticed as the film travelled to festivals across the world, endorsing his potential. “Steve Barron, a producer, saw it at London Film Festival and cast me as the lead in Brahman Naman,” he says of the Netflix release, directed by Q. “I hadn’t seen many films by Q apart from Gandu, which I saw half and didn’t quite like.” In the film, Shashank essays the eponymous role of a quiz nerd from the 1980s. “It was a Brahman character from 1980s Bangalore. I am from Delhi and I had no clue of that time or culture. So, I did my own research.” His best compliment remains the one he received from Reece, who felt that “Titli and Naman were two different people”. Abhishek Banerjee, the casting director of Rock On 2 was also impressed with Shashank’s debut. “I had initially auditioned for a different role but then I got cast as a band mate,” says the actor who has learnt to play the ukulele, guitar and flute.

“My first film went to Cannes and my second (Brahman Naman) to Sundance in the competition category for Best Drama feature, so I am very lucky.” But despite all the accolades, he feels that the audience for films depicting reality is scattered. “We don’t want to confront our lives through films. This is why most prefer films which are like happy meals. But a happy meal doesn’t stay with you. That fish you once had, which had a million bones, of which one even pricked you, stays.”

While the Indian adult comedy scene resembles a cinematic wasteland, a desi filmmaker strikes gold on foreign shores with his new film
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 3, 2016)


While Indian sex comedies have hit rough weathers with the likes of Kya Kool Hai Hum 3 and Mastizaade drawing flak, filmmaker Qaushiq Mukherjee aka Q's Brahman Naman has lucked out abroad.

The sex comedy marks the acting debut of liquor baron Vijay Mallya's son, Siddhartha, and also features Shashank Arora (of Titli fame), Tanmay Dhanania and Chaitanya Varad.

"I did an online search on Q and the film that came up was G*ndu. It is one of the few cuss words I know in my limited Hindi vocabulary and I told myself that I had to get involved with someone who made a film with a title like that," smiles Sid, who was at the premiere of his debut flick at the Sundance Film Festival 2016 recently.

The film received rave reviews at the fest with The Hollywood Reporter calling it "an imaginative reworking of a familiar formula".

It follows a Brahman boy, Naman, and his sidekicks, who are incredibly smart but are struggling to get laid.

Set in the 1980s, the film has the four college-going protagonists trying to win an all-India quiz tournament as well as lose their virginity. "We lived in a house in Mysore and did extensive workshops to get into the skin of the characters. We'd bathe by pouring buckets of water over our heads instead of taking showers, wore the Brahman thread, dhoti and the correct underwear too," Tanmay reveals.

For Shashank, the bigger challenge was to detach from his Titli character.

"Most Bollywood actors spend their entire lives doing the same roles. I had to put my pants down in front of an entire crew. No body does such things due to societal pressure. My character in the film is obnoxious and that's what makes it special."

On Monday, Netflix snapped up the worldwide Subscription on Video Demand rights to the film after the global push it received at the fest. The company's Indian spokesperson revealed that the film helps the expansion plans of Netflix in India and targets the large Indian diaspora and fans of Indian cinema around the world.

"Distribution for us in India has always been a problem. We're hoping this film gets out because we need an American Pie, a film that challenges our social morality and fabric," Q says.

THE RECIPE FOR A PERFECT SEX COMEDY IS...


'Hunterrr didn't make me cringe even for a second'

HANSAL MEHTA, Filmmaker

With Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai behind me, you could call me the pioneer of sex comedy in India. I made it at a time when no one else wanted to. As a society, we will progress if we learn to laugh at everything and enjoy sex jokes as we would enjoy family jokes at the dinner table. I've loved American Pie and while I was on the jury of the recently concluded Filmfare Awards, I caught Hunterrr and thoroughly enjoyed it. All the actors were brilliantly portrayed and I did not cringe through the film even for a second. That's how an adult comedy should be.


'Indians are extremely hypocritical about sex'

ARUNABH KUMAR, Founder - TVF Pitchers, Permanent Roommates

When I was studying at IIT Kharagpur, the boys were perennially confused. When the studious girls came to class, they labelled them "bhenji" and when a firang on an exchange programme visited campus, they called her "too revealing". Similarly, India is extremely hypocritical. The funniest Hindi sex-comedy would be one that brings out all the definitions of sex in our society. Humour has to emerge from characters. It has to be situational as it's everyone's twisted perspective that creates a funny situation. Growing up, we've all enjoyed the likes of American Pie and Euro Trip. The reason I can't think of a memorable Bollywood adult comedy is, well, because there really aren't any.

'Keep it witty, not sleazy'

OMKAR KAPOOR, Actor

Sex comedies don't necessarily have to be about skin show. The film Gone Girl was extremely erotic because it made the scenes titillating without flashing a cleavage or a bottom. It was the illusion of sex that made it appealing. On a lighter note, two boys discussing sex can be funnier than a girl and a boy performing the act. Project X was a film that had me clutching my sides, a typical "girl's out of my league" romance which people of all genders enjoyed. Boys can be supremely goofy!

Shashank Arora joins the Rock On sequel as a musician from Varanasi who is a champion of Hindustani music
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 29, 2015)

Rock On!! ended with Magik, the band, reuniting for a final performance. The climax of the 2008 rock musical drama had Rob (Luke Kenny) dying of brain tumour and Aditya (Farhan Akhtar) and Sakshi Shroff (Prachi Desai) naming their son after him. The other two band members, Killer Drummer aka Kedar Zaveri (Purab Kohli) and Joe (Arjun Rampal) went on to start a record company together. "The band members and their families meet every weekend..." the end credits stated.

Seven years later, Magik heads off to Mizoram for a live act. "They will be performing at a week-long music festival from October 10-16 and the live video shot there will be incorporated into the sequel," reveals a source.

Shujaat Saudagar, who has replaced Abhishek Kapoor as the director, will shoot festival-style footage. "This is another exercise in the six-month long tour Farhan had undertaken to prep up for his role. His concerts, Farhan Live, were successful and now the Rock On!! 2 cast will tour together too," adds the source.

And there's a new addition to the band to Part 2 - Shashank Arora, popularly known as Sunny. Born and brought up in Delhi, the actor made a red carpet appearance at the Cannes Film Festival, where his Bollywood debut, Titli, directed by Kanu Behl was screened in the Un Certain Regard section.

"Shashank's character is from Varanasi and will be styled accordingly. His lines will be a mix of Urdu and Hindi and he will be seen playing the sardana," says the source.

Shashank plays the sardana, saroj and sitar for real too and comes from a family of artistes. He has studied music too. "That is one of the reasons he bagged this role. His character is filled with nazaakat and is a champion of Hindustani music," says the source. Shraddha Kapoor is an addition to the cast too. "The film has over eight songs and will draw from the music culture of the North East," says the source.