HOLDING COURT
ACTRESS DAISY SHAH PLAYS AN ILL-FATED COURTESAN IN A SONG AND DANCE PRODUCTION DIRECTED BY PRADEEP GUPTA
On the morning of July 2, a wave of panic hit actress-dancer Daisy Shah as soon as she woke up. It was the day she would be premiering on stage, a performance she had been practising for the past two months. “I did consider chickening out, but Pradeep Gupta (director) would have collapsed,” she laughs. Having played the lead opposite Salman Khan in Jai Ho (2014), followed by the erotic thriller Hate Story 3 (2015), Shah does not seem like the obvious choice to essay the role of a Lucknowi courtesan in the staged period drama, Ek Aur Begum Jaan. With her background in dance, learning Kathak over two months was not as much of an uphill climb. It was performing the dance on stage, learning the 45-page script by rote, and enunciating her dialogues in chaste Urdu that proved to be the challenge. “If you make a mistake while shooting a film, you can always do a retake. I can’t possibly ask for another chance on stage. I realised I just had to be one hundred per cent physically and mentally present at all times,” admits the actress. It helped that Gupta’s faith in his lead actress remained unhinged throughout the two months. “I looked lost, confused and completely out of place in the beginning, but Pradeep always believed in me,” she adds.
Although she was nervous about her shortcomings, what excited Shah about the role was that she’d get the opportunity to bring the character of the cursed courtesan to stage, something that has been played out so many times on the silver screen. “I decided not to refer to films like Umrao
Jaan or Pakeezah, because I didn’t want my character to lose that special Daisy flavour only I could bring,” reveals the actor, who thoroughly enjoyed dressing up in costumes designed by Ashley Rebello.
ON July 31 AT Rang Sharda Auditorium, Bandra Reclamation TIME 7.30 p.m.