Sohum Shah wears many hats — he’s an actor, producer, and entrepreneur. He made his Bollywood debut as an actor in the 2009 film, Baabarr. He followed it up as an actor and a producer with the National Award-winning film, Ship of Theseus. However, it was Tumbbad that catapulted him on the road to success. He later made his web debut with Sacred Games. Now, he is gearing up for the web series, Maharani 2, which also stars Huma Qureshi. In an exclusive chat with The Free Press Journal, the actor opens up about his journey, undergoing physical transformation, and more. Excerpts:
Do you believe in quality over quantity since choosing consciously is a task?
I don’t think it’s a task, it is all about destiny. I came to Mumbai to become Shah Rukh Khan and when I reached here, I realised there cannot be another Shah Rukh Khan in the industry. Choosing the projects that I have done so far, was not a deliberate decision. I have learnt to go with the flow in the past decade. But once you taste the blood, there’s no looking back. I want to do different roles. I like it when people don’t recognise me since largely people don’t know me.
Go on…
Once I was shooting in Delhi and I got tanned. I went to a salon and the guy asked me if my job includes too much outdoors. I told him that I am an actor. He curiously asked me about my work. I responded by saying I did Tumbbad, where I played the main role, Vinayak. I took it as a huge compliment. I look different in most of my projects like Ship of Theseus, Talwar, and the Maharani franchise.
Do you believe that it requires more mental transformation than physical to play diverse roles?
Every actor has a process. For me, the character I am going to play starts running at the back of my mind until I finish the project. I carry a certain stress. This is the reason I don’t rehearse much. Mentally, I spend a lot of time with my character. It is difficult to crack that psyche. My role as Bheema in the first season of Maharani was one-dimensional. However, in the second season, it is more complex.
Maharani is one of the most respected shows on Indian OTT. Do you feel added pressure with the second season?
Not at all. Rather, I am excited. I can’t wait for people to see it on August 25. It’s a blockbuster show. The first season was just a build-up, the real game starts in the second one. During the pandemic, I realised that the audience doesn’t want to see predictable things. The reason why Maharani worked is due to its unpredictability. There are a lot of surprises in the second season.
How was your camaraderie with Huma Qureshi since she is the torchbearer of the show?
We both are not insecure actors since there are many similarities between us. We both are outsiders and have spent 10 years in this industry so far. We have learnt lessons that it is important to have a great co-actor. Since I come from a small town, where men can hardly talk to women, I am a little socially awkward and a shy person. On the contrary, Huma is warm, cool, and welcoming.
How do you see your journey from here on?
I don’t know about the future but I am excited about the roles I am playing currently. In Maharani, I am playing this larger-than-life character, which has a lot of swag. I am doing a film with Luv Ranjan where you will see me doing comedy while playing a clown. It doesn’t go with my real-life image but I am kicked to play this role.
