Shefali Shah says she was Typecast at an Early Age

Prior to her role in Delhi Crime, Shefali Shah revealed that she was typecast in a lot of roles.

She explained that she typically played the role of a mother or grandmother from an early age.

The actress also said that her role as DCP Vartika Chaturvedi in Delhi Crime has changed things as she is now playing more central roles, calling them the roles she “desires”.

In an interview with Times of India, Shefali explained that she did not reach a certain age before she was typecast as a mother in roles.

She said: “I was typecast a mother’s role very early in life.

“I didn’t even reach a certain age, I was 20. I did a show where I played the mother of a 15-year-old, I was 20 years old when I played a mom of 45.

“And then when I was around 28-30, I played mother to Akshay Kumar. So I got typecast very early if I didn’t even have to reach a certain age point.

“According to screen time, I’m probably 133 years or something.”

It was one of Shefali’s challenges throughout her career, however, it was not the only challenge she faced.

“Like I said, there was a choice I made of playing aged because as an actor, I think the beauty of being an actor is to be able to play different people who you are not.

“Even if it includes gender, or race, religion, age. That’s the variety. That’s the reason for being an actor.

“I did this project where I played aged, and then I got typecast. I never really planned my career I never had anyone handing my work.

“I never went and asked for work. And after I played age, and after I did Wakt, which was very popular, I kind of got stuck.

“And it took me quite some time. What happened was…that the kind of work I was getting offered was not the kind of work I wanted.

“It didn’t necessarily have to do with a mother, grandmother, sister, friend.

“But I don’t have a very long resume. But I have a very strong resume. And I’m very proud of the projects I’ve done.

“I love what I do too much to just go and do a job every day. So earlier, it used to bother me that I’m not getting enough work.

“And I’m not working all the time. And then I’ve reached a point where I realised the kind of work I want to do comes rarely. I’ll wait.

“Even if it means I’ll wait for two years. I will wait. It’s worth it.”

Shefali Shah also discussed how she deals with setbacks, especially in a society where mental health is so prevalent.

“I genuinely feel this was something that nobody looked into for a very long time and decided not to talk about it.”

“Mental health is equally and sometimes more important. So this fear of not talking to someone is ridiculous. It’s just ridiculous.

“Also, people are very easy to judge. And it’s really unfair to judge, you don’t know what’s going on. You’re standing in somebody else’s shoes. You don’t know what’s going on in their life.

“Just have compassion, have the ability to listen and be kind. You know, don’t go out saying I can do drama. Don’t do that.

“It’s ridiculous. You don’t know what’s going on in people’s heads in their minds and their lives. It’s extremely important.

“The importance of mental health is should be a priority.

“And it’s not like it doesn’t mean that you’re nuts or local or anything like that. It just means sometimes certain things become too overwhelming to handle on your own.

“You need someone from the outside to give you that perspective.”