Shefali Shah

“I behave instinctively and impulsively.”

“It is not easy to make an ensemble film - if there is one person with the wrong attitude, you are jacked.”

“For me personally, I feel that a film that doesn't end with a happy ending has a far bigger reach. It lingers on far more. Unrequited love stories have much more impact on the audiences. If 'Romeo and Juliet' had been happily married and had kids and dogs, I don't think it would have been a classic.”

“I would have loved to play the role that Rani Mukherji did in 'Black' or Tabu's in 'The Namesake.'”

“Most actors work on a scene, I try to find out who the character is. So when a scene or a moment comes, I react the way she would react.”

“The films that I have done are commendable.”

“I don't want to put myself in a small block. That will be limiting myself and no actor wants to do that.”

“Sometimes it hurts when I see my role being edited. But that wasn't the case with '15 Park Avenue... ' or 'Monsoon Wedding.'”

“I have worked with the best of actors and directors.”

“I can never visualise what the final product will look like and where it's going to go... that's not why and how I pick what I want to do.”

“I don't have a sense of fear. If someone warns me saying you cannot do this, it is extremely difficult, I am capable of doing it.”

“You know, my endeavour is to blend into the larger picture. That was one of the strengths of my acting in 'Monsoon Wedding.'”

“Acting happened to me incidentally, I never planned.”

“I pick a film on the basis of the role and the director. I do whatever I believe in.”

“I refer to myself as an actor. I mean, why is there an 'actor' and an 'actress' when there is no 'doctor' and 'doctoress' or 'lawyer' and 'lawyeress?'”

“It is a huge responsibility to make sure your son never ever treats anyone wrong.”

“Immediately after 'Dil Dhadakne Do' in which I played a mother, I made the choice of not doing films which put me in the same bracket.”

“The biggest advantage of OTT is that it is not confined to the box office.”

“I love my work way too much to just go into it as a 9 to 5 job.”

“I love what I do too much to compromise on it. I would rather wait for the work that excites me than just go and do a job so I can stay busy.”