'People still remember me as the Chak De girl'

'I didn't even know where Bombay was before I came here.'

People still remember me as the Chak De girl!" Shilpa Shukla says with a laugh. It has been 13 years since she starred in the Shah Rukh Khan hit, and she has done several ilms since, but it remains the highlight of her career.

Shilpa will be seen next in the second installment of the popular Web series Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors.

It is a strong role, like most others that she has done, and she says "Someone once told me that I get such roles because of my high cheek bones.”

How was the experience of shooting Criminal Justice 2 in these COVID times?

The shoot started before the lockdown and we were supposed to resume in March. But the lockdown happened.

When we started shooting again, some four or ive months later, it was so great to see these actors again.

This is an experience in my career that I will never forget.

I can't describe that feeling of when you take things for granted and you feel you will always have a set around you and people around you, and then you are deprived of that for ive months.

Even a namaste was divine!

You share the screen with Pankaj Tripathi. What was that like?

Pankaj is a very dear friend. I've known him for almost 15-20 years now.

I've known him from Delhi. He would come home with his baby.

Since both of us are from Bihar, we would go to the Bihar ilm festival together.

I'm happy to share screen space with him.

I know that he is a gifted artist...yeh to hame bahut pehle se pata hai (I have known it for a long time).

You have to keep up with the patience, but whenever your time comes, it comes.And how beautifully it has come for him!

Also, for the audience. It's not that inally just the artist is getting his due. Even the audience is enjoying his performances, which means it is also changing something in them. So it is a two-way process.

I had done a short ilm with Pankaj about ive years ago, and I have seen him through that phase of struggle. But he has always been such a digni ied person.

And he has not changed at all. Things around him have changed, but he hasn't.

He is still humble and respectful towards everyone.

He is such a ine artist with such a