From the power suits of Bombay Begums to the small-town cop act of The Last Hour is quite a leap for Shahana Goswami. She welcomes the change, only too happy to add a supernatural thriller to her repertoire. Asked if she was sold on the premise of the Amazon Prime Video offering — which revolves around a shaman who can talk to the dead and relive their last hour — at the first narration, the actor says the material resonated deeply with her.

“I believe in the supernatural. I have not only read such stories, but I used to feel a presence in one of my houses. I was so comfortable with her that I named her,” says Goswami, adding that her belief in the other realm has strengthened with time. “This show is interesting to me because it’s not a make-believe world, but is based on existing beliefs and traditions.”

The crime thriller sees her as a cop, alongside Sanjay Kapoor, as they investigate the murder of a small-time actor. Excited to don the khaki uniform for the Amit Kumar-directed series, Goswami says, “In the northeast [where the show is set], cops have a different uniform, comprising cargo pants and boots. It was a cool look. I have been a sporty person. So, it was easy to adopt the [athletic] body language.”

Last seen in Vodka Diaries (2018) alongside Kay Kay Menon, Raima Sen may be missing from Bollywood, but has been finding a fresh lease of life in the digital world. After Forbidden Love, Black Widows and Hello 2, Sen featured in The Last Hour. The supernatural thriller, which dropped on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, sees the actor play Sanjay Kapoor’s wife in the series. “There’s a mystery element to my character,” she says, refusing to divulging any details. “It’s an intriguing crime drama; there are a lot of questions that need answers.” 

Like most actors, Sen, too, finds the OTT world throwing up “new challenges” to actors by providing an opportunity to portray “diverse roles”. The Last Hour came her way out of the blue. She was in Kolkata when she got a call from the show’s creator-director Amit Kumar, who earlier helmed the Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer Monsoon Shootout (2013). “He told me that he needed to do [my] screen test. I have a phobia about it. I avoided it by telling him that I will do it in Mumbai,” adds Sen. Later, they caught up in the city and she agreed to go through the process. “I had this inkling that I will never get it, but to my surprise, he later called to say that I was on board.”

The series is backed by British filmmaker Asif Kapadia, who is known for his docu-dramas on Diego Maradona and Amy Winehouse. “But I did not get a chance to meet him,” says Sen. “We shot in the North-East, which has been woven into the storyline,” adds the actor, who also features in Anushka Sharma’s upcoming Netflix series, Mai, starring Sakshi Tanwar.

Sen has shot for two Bollywood films, 3 Dev and Aliya Basu Gayab Hai, which are yet to see the light of day.