Sohum Shah, the lead of Tumbbad and Maharani, explains why he decided to produce films. During his recent visit to Delhi, he shared, “Cinema ki ye khaas baat hai ki cinema rahega. Itni aafat aayi - piracy, satellite, OTT sab aa gaya, lekin cinema phir bhi hai. The community-watching experience of cinema cannot be replicated. I will always release my films in cinemas. After all, watching a film in a cinema is where it all started for me.” Excerpts from the conversation.

‘Meri jitni education hui hai, woh cinema se hui hai’
Talking about the impact films had on him and how they shaped his understanding of relationships and life, he says, "Mujhe nahi pata aisi film hoti hai toh aise bhai hote hain ya aise bhai hote hain toh aisi film hoti hai. Hum Aapke Hain Koun! dekh ke mujhe laga rishte aise hone chahiye. Mere bhi ek bade bhai thay, toh mujhe itna pyaar ho gaya unse. Hamari relationship itni majboot ho gayi.”

Sohum says that in the 90s', travelling to foreign country felt like something unimaginable to him.
He says, "Log panditji ko patri dikha ke puchhte thay videsh yatra ka yog hai kya? Dilwale Duhania Le Jayenge showed me how Europe is, those leather jackets, and that people drink beer in cans. It was a fascinating world. Meri jitni education hui hai, woh cinema se hui hai, aur Aamir Khan saheb mere guru rahe hain."

‘Mujhe OTT ke mercy pe nahi rehna hai’
Sohum says that as a producer, he will never choose to release a film on OTT when he can release it in theatres. He explains, "Mera ye hai ki mujhe OTT ke mercy pe nahi rehna hai. Main wohi filmein banaunga (the kind of films I want to be a part of) aur theatre mein lagaunga. Chalegi toh theek hai, nahi chalegi toh theek hai! Main meri property bech dunga, woh mujhe chalega, lekin mujhe OTT ke mercy pe nahi rehna hai."

What’s behind this love for releasing films in theatres?
He says, "Theatres are the seed that helped us reach this point. We watched those films and had the entire experience of watching them. When we watched films like Hum, I still remember the impact those dialogues had on us. I still remember all those lines."

Enacting a scene from Hum, where Amitabh Bachchan’s character screams Bakhtawar, Sohum asks, "Woh experience kaise laptop pe ya TV pe shift ho sakta hai? Jo shuruaat hui hai, cinema se hi shuruaat hui hai. Woh hamare conscious nahi, subconscious mind mein hai. Hamare blood mein hai!"

‘Tumbbad is my Mughal-e-Azam’
Sohum says that, according to him, Tumbbad is their Mughal-e-Azam. He explains, "Like we’ve heard so many stories about Mughal-e-Azam - that the diamonds were real and how the film was made with so much passion and love and took so long. In the same way, the bus you see in Tumbbad is an actual bus from the 1930s, the locks, the gates, the cinematography. If we missed one monsoon, we’d have to wait another year for rain. We did VFX in Sweden and background work in America. Humne bahut shiddat aur pyaar se banayi hai.”

He says that before they started shooting Tumbbad, there were already over five years of work behind it in terms of locations and sketchboards. "When I heard the script, I always had this trust that the film would reach somewhere. I had this trust because I felt the film was strong and unique."

Sohum elaborates, "Jo maine uss waqt socha tha ki filmon ka ek universe (prequels, sequels) ho sakta hai, woh ab ho raha hai."

Talking about the core of the story, he says, "We all know that greed is bad. But somewhere, we are all consumed by greed. And greed, not just in terms of money, but also jobs, cars, followers, validation- in all aspects, it's greed. If one takes a step back, they'd realize that most of us operate out of greed, and hence, the story of Tumbbad about greed becomes quite relevant."

‘Iss industry mein achha kaam karne wale log hi 8-10 hain’
He shares, "I never wanted to be a producer, I had no interest in becoming one. But the kind of films I want to act in, those films weren’t being made. Achha kaam ho nahi raha hai, iss industry mein achha kaam karne wale log hi 8-10 hain, baaki sab mediocre kaam ho raha hai. So, what do I do? When I don’t get good work, I felt like - all right, then I will make the kind of films I want to work in."

"Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots has had a huge impact on the lives of many people. I’d like to share an incident - once, I went to a doctor who told me she was in depression, but when she watched a Shah Rukh Khan film in the cinema, it helped her sail through. Cinema and stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan have contributed to pop culture in a huge way."

Sohum says that being both a producer and actor helps him understand each role better. He explains, "I don’t like holidays, I don’t like to travel, I don’t want to do anything but work - whether I’m acting or producing. I don’t know how to compartmentalize; balancing is a problem for me. I live in extremes. Mera sab kuch ek hai - actor-producer, sab ek hai."

Making his web debut with Fallen, actor Sohum Shah says the opportunity to work with Reema Kagti drew him to the series
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; March 3, 2020)

Though his breakthrough role came with Anand Gandhi's Ship of Theseus, Sohum Shah grabbed eyeballs with the fantasy drama Tumbbad, a cautionary tale about the cycle of greed. As Shah kickstarts the shoot of the gritty Amazon Prime show Fallen helmed by Reema Kagti, he walks us through how he developed the weave and weft of the character.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

What made you come on board Fallen?
I liked the script so much that I finished reading it in one go. My character [of a cop] is an earthy small-town guy. Since I hail from a small town, it was relatable and gave me an opportunity to portray that side of my personality. Finally, Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti are producing the show, so that was the cherry on top.

This is your first collaboration with Reema Kagti. What was your first meeting with her like?
I am an admirer of Reema's work, particularly Talaash [2012]. She has always been on the list of directors whom I wanted to work with. When I met her [to discuss the show], I immediately realised that she would be a treat to work with. We had a long discussion about my scenes and character graph, and she was open to [new ideas]. While shooting, whenever I have an idea, I do not hesitate to discuss it with her. She will always listen to my ideas first, share her views, and if there is discrepancy, she is ready to talk about it until we reach a common ground. It is a privilege to have that kind of space as an actor.

Discuss your prep for the role.
Besides doing reading sessions with the director and the cast, I did some personal workshops to get into the character. I also visited police stations, and met police officers to study their mannerism, characteristics, and their style of working.

The series has an eclectic cast that includes Sonakshi Sinha, Vijay Varma and Gulshan Devaiah. That must be another incentive to come on board.
I went to the set of Fallen right after wrapping up my portions in The Big Bull [film with Abhishek Bachchan]. I did a few reading sessions with my co-actors, and because of them, I got a grasp of my character quickly. After all, acting is all about reacting. So, whenever you work with good actors, it is beneficial. I still remember working with Irrfan sir in Talvar [2015]; it was enlightening because I learnt a lot from him. Currently, I'm shooting with Gulshan and Sonakshi. They are seasoned actors and bring their experience to the table. Vijay will join the rest of the cast soon.

Now that you are a producer as well, what is the yardstick of choosing your acting projects?
I [decide on the basis of] the script and my character. If I have a clear understanding of the script, my character and the director's vision, I don't hesitate to accept the role.

MUMBAI MIRROR (December 12, 2018)

Sohum Shah was a teenager when he fell in love with the movies. In the only theatre in Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan, he’d give in to the magic of a Shah Rukh Khan romance or Salman Khan’s charm. “These films were my window into the world. They inspired me to dream bigger and be more,” the actor-producer explains. It was this drive that brought him to Mumbai and made him persevere for six years to make one of this year’s best Indian films—Tumbbad.

Named after a village in the interiors of Maharashtra, Tumbbad is a monster film, a treasure hunt and an allegory for the consequences of endless greed. “When Rahi (Anil Barve, writer and co-director) brought me the script, I was immediately on board. He had even created a printbook with reference images of what the film would look like. It was a very relatable and rooted Indian story; the kind our nanis and dadis would tell us when we were kids.”

Only Sohum didn’t realise how difficult it would be to bring what seemed like a simple folktale to screen. “The idea was to make a small film quickly, but the film kept evolving and growing bigger. Every time someone came up with an idea that could improve the film, it would get added. Most films get made in three stages—writing, filming and editing. In our case, we lost count of the stages,” he says, with a laugh.

One of the biggest changes was what Hastar, the disgraced demon God looked like. Initially, due to budget constraints, the monster was created using prosthetics and the space he inhabits was a cave. “We tried twice to get the prosthetics right but it just didn’t work. Somewhere along the way, someone suggested that the cave should be changed to a red womb. We eventually used VFX to create Hastar and the womb.”

The ‘do what’s right for the film, regardless of the budget’ ethos meant that an expensive scene depicting Vinayak (played by Sohum) and his son walking through the Independence Day celebration in a marketplace got left behind on the editing floor; a crew of 200 people would wait for the rains because the film’s director and cinematographer thought it should always be raining in Tumbbad, and also wanted the right lighting; and, from the motorcycle to the marketplace, the production team meticulously recreated the early 1900s.

Six years of single-minded focus gave Sohum a film that continues to be in theatres almost two months after it’s pan-India theatrical release. Tumbbad was the first Indian film to open at the prestigious Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week. “In these six years, there were days when I was frustrated with how much time the film was taking but I knew that we had something special on our hands. One of the lessons I have learnt from Aamir Khan has been to give as much time to something as it needs. My audience doesn’t care if the film was made in six months or six years; all they’ll care about is how well it’s been made.”

He was so focused on getting Tumbbad made that Sohum even refused acting jobs, which had been the main reason for him to come to Mumbai. “I was emotionally and creatively so invested in this film that I passed up quite a few acting opportunities. I only did Talvar and Simran during this period because Tumbbad remained my top priority.”

Sohum’s single-mindedness has been the keystone of his success. The son of a commodities trader, he started helping his father at age 13. In just a few years, he had almost completely taken over the business and continued to ace at college. “My only aspiration was to earn money. I had grown up in a family where we had the basics but never anything extra. I had two sets of clothes and that was considered a luxury.”

By 27, Sohum had diversified into other business, including real estate. “I worked very hard and I was fortunate that success came to me early. That’s when I decided to follow my passion for acting.” Interestingly, Sohum has never acted before he landed up in Mumbai. “I had acute stagefright,” he confesses. During a two-month course in Mumbai, he found the actor within.

For his sophomore effort, Ship Of Theseus, Sohum won the National Award for Best Feature Film. It was a bittersweet win for him because his father had just passed away before the awards were announced. He wished he was present to see him win the honour. While his most ambitious film Tumbbad continues to wow audiences on one of the online streaming platforms, he is back to his first love, acting, and 2019 is already sounding extremely busy for the actor. “I am currently shooting for a series for a popular online streaming platform. There is also Batuni, a comedy that Adesh (Prasad, Tumbbad’s co-director and writer) is directing and I am producing. There are two more very interesting films that are being discussed but I can’t reveal yet,” he signs off.

Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 13, 2018)

After all the critical acclaim that his recently-released period horror fantasy received, Mirror has learnt that actor-producer Sohum Shah is gearing up for a sequel of Tumbbad. The first instalment was a mythological story revolving around three generations of a family who must face the consequences of building a temple dedicated to Hastar, the first-born of the Goddess. Work on Part 2 has already begun.

“I always knew I would take this idea forward even when I was working on the original. After the release, we have got multiple requests of a sequel. I have already started developing the idea and am scouting for writers to pen the script. It will be a different story this time but the connection to the place Tumbbad will remain. Some of the characters, including that Hastar, will be retained. Even I will return in some way though we are yet to zero down as how,” informs Sohum who played Vinayak, a member of the family who is part of the gold quest.

The idea for Part 1 came from Sohum’s director Rahi Anil Barve who had tried to make it earlier but the project didn’t materialise then as the initial investors were worried about the large investment it would require, the complex execution and also that it would be a song less film. “However, I found the concept new and exciting and was game for the challenge. The idea is so rooted in our culture it seems like one of the stories our grandmothers would narrate to us when we were kids,” smiles Sohum who put six years into the film despite facing multiple hurdles. “I am glad the hard work has paid off.”

Interestingly, even after making a horror film, Sohum is scared to watch them. “I can’t sleep for two-three days after that. I only remember watching Raaz as a kid and saw Stree recently. I really liked it,” smiles the filmmaker whose next production, Batuni, is a slice-of-life drama. “I will act in it too. The character is a somewhat delusional guy, very talkative and judgmental. The film will roll sometime in April and will be shot in Mumbai. And I can’t wait to shoot Tumbbad 2,” he signs off. 

A booming real estate business back in Rajasthan notwithstanding, Tumbbad's lead actor Sohum Shah and producer talks of what compels him to push the envelope in a creative and volatile field
Jane Borges (MID-DAY; November 4, 2018)

There's an incident from the making of the recently-released fantasy-horror film Tumbbad that director Rahi Anil Barve recounts with part amusement, part reverence. Since rain is an important trope in the movie - shot in nine different locations across rural Maharashtra - Barve had insisted on shooting certain scenes during the monsoon, when the sky was overcast. "But, the region was hit by drought, so rain was often playing truant," he says, over a telephonic interview.

"For days, our set of 200-odd people would wait on top of a cliff, where we had constructed a hill house [for the film], wondering when it would pour. Had it been any other producer, he'd have said, 'F**k these clouds, and let's get on with the shoot. You're wasting my time and money'. But, Sohum [Shah] would sit with us, and watch for those rain clouds."

When we meet Shah, Tumbbad's producer and greedy protagonist Vinayak Rao, we realise that patience is second nature for him. Dressed in distressed jeans and a black shirt over a white tee, Shah doesn't protest when we ask him to move between sofas and rooms, in an attempt for a decent shot at his Versova office. Instead, like a true producer, we overhear him telling the mid-day photographer why he should be watching Tumbbad on the big screen.

For Shah, 37, the last few weeks have been surreal. There's no other word to describe what the critical success of his new production, which has been six years in the making, means to him. Despite essaying central characters in Ship of Theseus (2012) as stock-broker Navin, Talvar (2015) where he played mean ACP Vedant Mishra, and the boy-next-door in Simran (2107), Shah's body of work has gone fairly unnoticed. Tumbbad lifts the veil on another brilliant actor in an industry that is otherwise, star-struck. Shah admits, however, he too, is guilty of venerating icons, and Shah Rukh Khan in particular.

Love for Bollywood
Having grown up in the small Rajasthani town of Sri Ganganagar, 400 km from Jaipur and with a population of 2.5 lakh, Shah, like most kids from the 90s, remembers repeatedly watching Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (KKHH). "The kind of positivity and energy that Shah Rukh brought to the screen, it could fill your life with a lot of happiness," he says. "I remember a doctor friend, who felt that she was going crazy while studying medicine. She told me that KKHH helped her snap out of depression. He has contributed a lot to our culture. To me, he's not just an actor, he is way above. I wanted to be exactly like him."

It's these starry dreams that vacuously occupied most of his teenage years. But hailing from a family, where money was hard to come by - his father was a commodity broker - he decided to assist him in his business, at the age of 14. "As much as I wanted to become an actor, I also wanted to contribute to the family, and improve our financial condition," he says. Two years later, he took over the business. "I went on to dabble in different kinds of commodity trade, including edible oil. Bahut papad bele."

Finally, Shah found success in real estate, and within eight years, he managed to establish himself as a businessman to reckon with, at least in Sri Ganganagar. "When I knew I could run my business on auto-pilot, I decided it was time to make the shift to Mumbai," he says. This was in 2008. Shah hasn't looked back.

Making movies happen
Before Shah moved lock, stock and barrel he had visited Mumbai briefly, somewhere in 2006. "At the time, I thought, I'd make a music video featuring myself and people would take notice of me. That way, I'd get some work. I was so naïve," he laughs. "On a common friend's suggestion, I enrolled in an acting school, but couldn't commit to it, because a lot of work was still stuck back home," he says.

He even befriended Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who hadn't yet tasted success with Kahaani and Gangs of Wasseypur, and took him to Sri Ganganagar for a month, where he trained with him for three hours daily, in between meeting work commitments. When he returned, Shah decided to give himself completely to the movies. "I came from a place, where I had achieved immense success. So, having to start again from scratch, was tough. But, I was not someone who'd live on the streets and survive on vada pav. Yes, Mumbai was a different landscape and initially, I did feel alienated, but I was crazy about the movies and determined to get a hang of it."

Shah first produced and acted in a gangster drama titled Baabarr (2009), which tanked at the box office. A year later, he met filmmaker Anand Gandhi, whom he credits for exposing him to good cinema. He went on to play Navin in the massive cast of Ship of Theseus, which Shah and Gandhi produced under the Recyclewala Films banner.

During the same time, Rahi, who wanted a non-star to play lead in Tumbbad, approached him with the film. "When I heard the script, I jumped. It felt like a grandmother's tale, which was very rooted and Indian," remembers Shah. But Rahi was struggling to get a producer on board. "After seven months of not hearing from me, Shah came back and said he'd produce the film himself," Rahi says.

Even as Tumbbad was in the making, Shah took on side roles in other films. He was last seen in Simran as Kangana Ranaut's love interest Sameer. "Sohum, if cast correctly, comes without baggage. He can easily slip into character and become the person, you imagined. He played the boy-next-door and convincingly," says Hansal Mehta, who directed the film.

That Tumbbad took so long to make, was also because Shah ensured that every aspect of the film, right from the storytelling to cinematography, the writing and the demon god, Hastar, that was first shot in prosthetics before they opted for VFX, was perfected to the last detail. On screen, Shah stands out as the gluttonous Vinayak, and is able to compellingly portray the character's grey shades. That he had to maintain his physique through the many years of shooting the film - he used traditional wooden weights to get the chiselled look - and changed over four coaches to learn Marathi, is reflection of his dedication. "Sohum believed in Tumbbad when nobody else did. It was my baby, but he nurtured it like his own," says Rahi.

Sohum Shah on his next, which was in the making for six years and is now headed to Venice
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 8, 2018)

Actor-producer Sohum Shah’s Tumbbad, which had been in the making for six long years, is finally gearing up for a release. “It took a lot of time, but the film couldn’t have been completed faster. We didn’t have any reference points to begin with because the film deals with a different subject and has evolved with time. A lot of writing and editing work was required. The film had three-and-a-half hours of material that we edited down to 100 minutes. Also, previously, we hadn’t liked the setting, so we reshot it from scratch,” he explains.

Speaking of how he landed the part, Sohum reveals that the director, Rahi Anil Barve, had approached him after listening to a folklore from the Tumbbad region of Maharashtra. “The place is the main character in the film and I come from a small town myself. We have grown up on commercial films with lots of emotion and drama. This is an Indian film at heart with edge-of-theseat moments,” he informs.

Before its theatrical release in India, Tumbbad will be screened at the prestigious Venice Film Festival, which runs from August 29 to September 8. “It is the first Indian film to open the prestigious Critic’s Week at the fest. Aanand L Rai sir (who is presenting the film) loved it, so did Raju (filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani) and that makes us feel we are on the right path,” says Sohum.

Written by Ship of Theseus director, Anand Gandhi, the horror-thriller is set in colonial India, has a non-liner narrative with fantasy elements and a lush, stylised look.

Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; November 9, 2016)

After Ship Of Thesus and Talvar, Sohum Shah will be seen next in the biopic, Simran, that has Kangana Ranaut playing the titular role. Sohum plays her romantic interest, which is a first for him as he had no heroine in the films he has done so far. “Yes, and I am enjoying this,” he grins.

When director Hansal Mehta had offered the role to him he had initially turned it down. “I had seen Hansal’s Shahid and since then, I wanted to worked with him. Even my Ship Of Thesus had released around the same time and Hansal had liked my work. But when he offered me Simran, I refused it because I did not like the brief that he had sent to me. He later called and asked me to meet him. When he narrated the script and my character, I immediately agreed,” says Sohum, who was given a signing amount of Rs 500 then and there.

Wasn’t he apprehensive of being sidelined in a film centering around Kangana? “No, I never have these kind of apprehensions. Even in Talvar, Irrfan Khan’s was the main character, but I liked my role. It had a lot of grey shades. In Simran too, there is enough meat in my role.”

As for his co-star Kangana, Sohum says he admired her work since Queen and Tanu Weds Manu. “I am fascinated by her journey. She is from a small-town and I relate to that because I am also from one. As a co-actor, she is very helpful and easy-going. She doesn’t have any attitude because she is a big star — if we have to go for one more take, she is cool about it,” says the actor who plays a character close to how he is is real life. “I can’t tell you more about it now, but some of his and my traits are similar,” he says.

Besides acting in the biopic, Sohum is also producing and starring in Tumbad, which is a period film set in the 1920s.

Sohum Shah, enthused by the overwhelming response to his character in the film, now extends boundaries
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 22, 2015)