Busy and pleased
Sayani Gupta has truly arrived. Her 2018-short-film Shameless has been selected as India’s entry for Oscars 2021 in the shortfilm category. Applause has been pouring in with big names of Bollywood going gaga over her performance
The actress clutched well on to the straw in a margarita glass in
2014, playing Khanum in Margarita with a Straw in her breakthrough performance with Kalki Koechlin. Now, seven years later, Sayani Gupta has grown into one of the best talents in this part of the globe.
Compliments have been pouring in from everywhere for her work in the
2018-short-film Shameless, which is directed by Keith Gomes and co-stars Hussain Dalal and has been selected as India’s entry for Oscars 2021 in the short-film category. Applause has been finding way to her also from some big names of Bollywood going gaga over her performance.
The actress, who moved out of a marketing job to pursue her passion for acting, is naturally on a high. But she doesn’t have the time to bask in the glory of it all. Not yet, it would seem.
“I’ve been very busy,” explains the actress. “I shot for a Bengali film and then travelled to Chhattisgarh for another film and I shall be in Mumbai soon for another shoot.”
IN THE WEB OF THINGS
Sayani — who shot for another short directed by Anusha Bose, called Shame, at the same time as she did Shameless — had no inkling her short will last long enough for the Academy Awards. “You don’t expect anything when you work on a project,” she says matter-offactly. “I really liked the idea and Keith and Hussain approached m e . Moreover, Hussain is someone I blindly trust, and if you like the idea and the role, you do it.”
Given the new normal, it is
Shameless
A poster of the film,
THE CHOSEN ONES
Shameless
certainly not normal to promote the film at the Oscars with the actors and the makers in attendance, we point out to her. Explaining to us how the makers are working to get the film in the shortlist, Sayani, says, “The film is being showcased at LA and people are watching it.”
For the actress who won much praise for her performances in Four More Shots Please! and Inside Edge, the perception about the web medium was very different when it was emerging. Like a lot of us, she confesses, she viewed it with a fisheye lens, with an added filter of scepticism.
“The web had just come in and I had heard about The Viral Fever (TVF) doing a lot of shows as well. I could not be a part of something that I was not really sure of. The medium had just started developing and I wasn’t sure of what quality it would be up to,” she says about her move to the now burgeoning OTT world. “But when I got the offer to work in Inside Edge, I didn’t mind it because I had collaborated with Excel Entertainment earlier and I knew that if they were making something, it would be good. And then, I really loved playing the part of Rohini Ragahavan in the show.”
Without really going over the top, Sayani says she has been choosy about work, especially after watching world-class content during the pandemic. “The web has a sort of a revolution in terms of writing, and some of the work is of excellent quality. We are doing good stuff, but it needs to increase manifold and become world-class stuff. We have Emmy nominations and all that. I am very proud that a show such as Delhi Crime won the Emmys on the global stage and that my show Four More Shots Please! won multiple awards. But we need more of worldclass stuff because we are not yet on par with what is being produced internationally,” says the girl who claims to have inherited the arts from her singer and musician father Kamal Gupta.
Speaking of watching world-class content since the pandemic, the busy actress tells us that she could never really binge till there was a lockdown.
“I have been working continuously and hence could never watch many web shows earlier. I love watching everything at one go once I start it. And I could do that once everything (I was doing) was shot,” adds Sayani, who goes on to tell us that she has been fangirling over various writers and creators. “The writing in Schitt’s Creek is so funny, Queen’s Gambit is a wonderful show and Better Call Saul has such a brilliant part. I would love to do some of these shows.”
The actress has also come in for a lot of praise for many of her other projects, such as The Good Karma Hospital, Axone, Article 15, Posham Pa and Darkness Visible.
During the lockdown, Sayani tried out a few things, such as editorial shoots for magazines, shoots for Netflix and a shoot for a British show while sitting at home all on her own.
“I have been doing my hair, make up and shooting for these apart from cooking various cuisines including Indian and Korean to Thai,” she smiles.
And as we close, we cannot resist but ask her what she’d rather be in another life — a chef or a director.
“Cooking we do anyway. A maybe,” she trails off.
director,
The actress, who moved out of a marketing job to pursue her passion for acting, is naturally on a high. But she doesn’t have the time to bask in the glory of it all. “I’ve been very busy. I shot for a Bengali film and then travelled to Chhattisgarh for another film and I shall be in Mumbai soon for another shoot,” she says
This week you may be a little disappointed as your wishes might not be fulfilled as you expected. You will see that you have everything you could imagine. However, there is a sense that there is still something amiss. Take a look at your situation, is it that your expectations may be unrealistic or you may not be actively doing anything to materialise your dream. Stay away from over-indulgence in food, alcohol, or drugs and the consequences that come with them. Be careful not to overdo the sensual pleasures too.
Lucky Number: 9
Lucky Colour: Crimson red
Tarot Affirmation from the Light Seers Deck: “I open my grateful heart to the gifts that are coming my way.”