Shekhar Ravjiani made his Bollywood debut in the recently released film Neerja, where he plays Neerja’s boyfriend in the film. The film has not only raking in good numbers, but it is being highly appreciated too. Shekhar, who plays a cameo in the film, has been getting some good feedback for his role as Neerja’s shy boyfriend Jaideep.
At the time of this conversation, Shekhar was busy recording music for a film at a suburban studio. But nonetheless he took a few moments to share his thoughts on being appreciated as an actor. He said the response has been “very gratifying and humbling”. “I am overwhelmed by it all.”
There were There are some compliments that he holds very dear. Shekhar says, “After the screening Javed (Akhtar) sahab came to me and said that you know your performance, your dialogue delivery was so perfect that it seems like it is your film. Hrithik’s message too was very nice and special.” He continues, “It’s humbling to be accepted so warmly that too for a brief role. All of my friends from the industry sent me messages. And one of the tweets I read said something like ‘Neerja said (in the film) zindagi lambi nahi badi honi chahiye. Likewise role bhi lamba nahi, bada hona chahiye. Your role was brief but impactful, Jaideep’s character stays with us.’” His family too made him feel special. Talking about the special reaction he got from his parents and daughter, Shekhar said, “I was expecting them to react immediately but I think this film is such that the reaction comes much later. When you watch the film, you are quiet for an hour or so, it sets in gradually. My mother called me two hours after she saw the film and said that the film is brilliant and that I was ‘outstanding’.” His dad, however, had a slightly different reaction. “My dad likes to react much later. He is the kind of person who wouldn’t say that straight on my face, so my mum had to tell me that my dad too really liked the film. And on Facebook he wrote, ‘I am so proud of you, my son’. He also told me that Sonam and Shabanaji were brilliant and how he thought the film was very well directed. And in my head, I was like, ‘don’t you want to say something about my performance’ and then I saw that post on Facebook,” Shekhar recalls with a smile. His 13-year-old daughter’s feedback was again one-of-a-kind. “She said you were funny,” says Shekhar with a laugh, adding, “But that I was good too. She loved the film as she is a big Sonam fan.”
