Fatima Sana Shaikh made her debut as Aamir Khan’s determined daughter, Geeta Phogat, in Nitesh Tiwari’s Dangal. While the movie went on to become one of Bollywood’s biggest hits, earning a staggering $307 million worldwide, Shaikh’s career didn’t quite hit the high one would imagine a film such as Dangal would ensure.
The actor, who was praised universally for her performance, was next seen in Vijay Krishna Acharya’s Thugs of Hindostan, a box-office dud so bad that lead actor Aamir apologised for acting in it. However, things are looking interesting for Shaikh, who will next be seen in two very different films: Anurag Basu’s Ludo and Abhishek Sharma’s Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari.
Over an hour-long Zoom call, the actor reflects on her Bollywood journey so far, how a culture of nepotism makes things difficult for actors not from legacy backgrounds, and why she doesn’t regret doing Thugs of Hindostan.
Edited excerpts:
Anurag Basu is famous for not having a bound script before going to shoot. Or even during it. What did he pitch while casting you?
Nothing. He said, “To sun, main picture bana raha hoon. Ladka hai, ladki hai. Phir ye phir, phir wo hoga. Karte hain.” (Listen, I am making a film, there’s this guy, there’s this girl. Then this will happen, then that will happen. Let’s do it).
Sounds like you must have said an instant ‘yes’.
Every actor wants to work with him just to be a part of his world. There’s an originality in his vision. There’s boldness in his aesthetic. And that’s why you go along. Of course, you know some details about your character but that’s the extent of it. A lot of the writing happens on the set.
But having started out with somebody like Aamir, who’s such a stickler for having everything in place beforehand, was it easy to adjust to this style of filmmaking?
You’ve to leave everything behind. Especially your insecurities. You’ve to submit yourself to this man’s singular vision. Tumhe khud ko tyaag dena hai. Because only then will you be enjoying yourself. Else, your mind will be caught up with so many things, your performance will suffer. I was like, ’Dada, jo karana hai karo.” You’ve to go on this joyride with him. Nobody has a clue as to what’s happening but it’s happening together and it’s happening to all of us.
Don’t you feel a sense of loss at times?
Once you see your character go in a certain direction, you get more and more in sync with it. You reach the heart of your character and then it gets easy. For instance, my brief here was simple: I’m a devout wife whose one agenda in life is to get her husband out of prison. Over the period of the film, circumstances compel her to be different and there’s a sense of realisation. She’s an honest, earnest, simple woman. About feeling a sense of loss, no you don’t. Because he (Anurag) is very clear in his head of what he wants. He’s looking for a spark. He doesn’t like actors rehearsing too much because then they lose the magic, the spontaneity, he’s trying to retain.
After having a debut as smashing as ‘Dangal’, one would imagine that your career would go on a different kind of high. Do you think that has happened?
No, it hasn’t. I wanted to do a lot more films. I wanted everyone to be excited about me as a new actor on the scene. I wanted everyone to be casting me in their film — rather than dropping me at the last minute. But reality is quite different. But what do you do? It’s all right. I’m not too disappointed. I’m not too disheartened. The hustle is still on. I thought it’d take lesser time but perhaps it’s going to be a long journey.
But it’s okay to be disappointed when things don’t go your way no?
No, sure, but what I mean to say is that I’m in such a better place as compared to where I was before Dangal. I’m in a place where I can say ‘no’ to major films which clash with my ideology. That in itself is a privilege. Because it’s empowering. I’m not bitter or wallowing in self-pity ki haai ye mere saath kya ho gaya. We’ve seen so many cases where somebody has gotten early success and then their career has nosedived before going up again. It’s just woven in the nature of what we do as artistes.
Do you think that for those who are raised in film families, there’s a grooming process that enables their career to flourish a lot more quickly? We all know that there are projects designed for actors and opportunities created for them.
Of course. That exists. It exists everywhere. And I’ll say this, when I started out, I knew I’ve to mentally prepare myself for what was coming before I entered the industry. It’d have been very naive to believe that I’ll enter and the whole world will revolve around me. I know that nobody is making a film for me. I know I’ve to knock 10 doors for one to open. I’ve to message directors constantly to be on their minds. I still do it. I’ve to remind them, ‘hey, I exist. So if there’s anything you’ve in mind for me, do reach out’. But it’s not a one-way thing. Audiences are also more excited about star kids no? They’re extremely interested in knowing what a certain star kid has worn while stepping out. The audience has to reject those star children for the system to change. But, bases on merit and talent. We’ve very talented film family actors like Alia Bhatt for instance. And from Shah Rukh Khan to Priyanka Chopra to Akshay Kumar, many outsiders who made it big too. No struggle is similar. Having said that, I won’t say the industry isn’t welcoming. That would be unfair. The new talent: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Radhika Madan, Sobhita Dhulipala, they’re all outsiders.
Yes, I think the streaming companies have, to some extent, levelled the playing field although many are also, well, star-struck.
Yes. Manoj Bajpayee is a great example of somebody who values and nurtures talent. He’ll work with a new director on a short film and then set up another project with them. Empower them by creating opportunity. That’s how power should work. Yes, it’s a tough industry and chances aren’t evenly divided. But what are you doing about it? Are you actively doing something to initiate change? He actually is. Or a Zoya Akhtar too. She gives opportunities to newer talent. She herself is from a film family. So it isn’t a binary of nepo-kids and non nepo-kids. It’s more complicated than that. Even during the whole Sushant Singh Rajput case, everybody latched on to nepo-kids, nepo-kids. Arrey. What are you doing about it other than clicking on every Insta post featuring a star kid?
How did ‘Suraj Pe Mangal Bhaari’ come about?
I was at Soho House. I came out of the washroom. And Abhishek Vyas, who works at Zee, asked me what I was doing at the moment, work-wise. I said, ‘look, my film has flopped, there’s no work, if there’s something, let me know’. He laughed and said that there’s something they’re putting together and in the next few weeks, the project fell in place. I met the director and he could see me in the role. I was very glad to hear that because people still think of me as someone who looks like the Dangal girl in real life. I don’t. I look like a Fatima.
How do you take a call on doing films which may not align with your own sensibilities?
It’s tough but ultimately it’s a job that needs to be done. I’ve thought about this for so long and even suffered. I have been offered projects which I’ve thought—who’s going to watch this? But they’ve gone on to become superhits. So that puts you in a weird place. You start doubting yourself, your own choices. After Thugs of Hindostan flopped, I decided I’m going to give myself two years where I’ll trust my choices and not be insecure and do anything that comes my way. So far, it’s going well.
‘Thugs of Hindostan’, of course, failed quite badly. After a success like ‘Dangal’, how did you deal with that?
I had a lot of fun doing the film. I hadn’t ever imagined that a YRF would cast me and that I would get to work with Amitabh Bachchan and an Aamir Khan in the same film. On paper, it was a very different film. While shooting it became something else. These things happen. But I’ve realised there’s value in working with good people even when the project doesn’t turn out to be very good. Even if I knew the film was going to fail beforehand, I’d have still done it.
As a young Muslim actor, do you feel overtly conscious about expressing yourself politically online?
Of course. I censor myself too. There’s so many things and most importantly, there’s an element of sexism. When I upload a picture of myself in a bikini, I get such nasty comments. A man would never be at the receiving end of it. But I see where we were and where we’ve reached. Until recently, even wearing jeans-top was a big struggle. Now, not so much. It’s a long battle and women have always fought it out. We’ll do this time too. One step at a time.