
Shahana Goswami interview: On modern love, diasporic identity and Zohran Mamdani
'I was approached by Dilip Shankar, who is the casting director of the show,' she tells me over a Zoom call. 'And funnily enough, I had actually heard about the project through a friend of mine, Richie Mehta, who had also heard about it. I remember him saying, 'Oh, you would be great for the part.' And then I forgot about it.' She chuckles. 'And then Dilip came to me with this project, and it happened to be the same one.'
When the script came back to her, it felt serendipitous, but was still tinged with hesitation. 'Initially, I wasn't even sure if I was right for it,' she admits. 'The character was meant to be much younger than me. But I had one day off in the middle of shooting Santosh, locked myself in a room, and taped four scenes. There was a realness in the emotion and in the way the couple spoke, which wasn't the usual 'tu-tu-main-main' kind of dynamic.'
Shahana's portrayal of Sri feels strikingly personal, and what drew her in, she says, was the truth of the character. 'She's a lot like me in terms of her persona and personality,' she says. 'And I get very little opportunity to actually play that out. The only other time I really felt I could do that was in Tu Hai Mera Sunday.' The role also marked a rare first: 'Suddenly at the age of like 37-38, I was getting an opportunity to be in a romantic series for the first time in my life.'
In playing out that romance, Shahana found herself reflecting on her own ideas of modern relationships. 'It was interesting for me to see that the characters meet through an arranged marriage. She's kind of a diehard romantic, but she's still open to the idea of meeting a partner through an arranged setup. If she's failed at finding the person by herself, then why not try other means?'
That openness feels emblematic of a broader shift she's observed, both personally and culturally. 'Over time, I've generally been more open, not for myself but in general, to the idea of arranged marriage that I would earlier have maybe judged. I've learned and seen through people's experiences around me that, in a sense, it is no different from a dating app.'
She speaks too, of letting go of older binaries: 'The whole thing of opposites attract is also something that I've not been much of a believer in. I now understand that it's not so much opposites as much as it is complementary personality types that attract. Not looking at every difference as a kind of cog in the wheel, but as something that actually makes you more compatible.'
Shot across Jaipur and Sydney, the shift in setting shaped her performance. Having never been to Sydney before the shoot, Shahana describes filming there as a kind of emotional osmosis. 'You do kind of see Sri experience Sydney in real time with you,' she explains. 'There was a sense of awe and opening up. I had been to Melbourne before, but Sydney was new, and that newness seeps into her journey.'
Even the act of speaking — switching between Hindi and English and modulating accents — changed across borders. 'Code switching is very common, even within parts of India, when you move from one space to another. I was born and raised in South Delhi, but when I moved to Bombay, my Hindi and English changed.'
That porousness of place, language and identity feeds into the show's portrait of migration. Sri coming to Australia became a kind of unexpected reunion with herself. 'If I had to play Yash (played by Akshay Ajit Singh), it would be much harder for me because I'm very adaptable and open as a person, and thrive with travel and new experiences,' she says.
When asked about the rise of diasporic South Asian storytelling, she remarks on how the series seems like the first of its kind. 'This kind of show has never actually happened before,' she says. 'Two Indians in the lead, speaking in their own accent in English. Usually, either the character is native to that country, or they adopt the accent of the country. But this is our reality. English with sputterings of Hindi. It's how many of us live. And yet we rarely see it on screen.'
And it's not something she looked to past diasporic films to model. 'I don't think that I'm someone who ever leans into other experiences because each story and each narrative is so different. What was useful was my own lived experience and that of people around me who are similar and from this milieu.'
Zohran Mamdani's historic election as New York City's new mayor — and the fact that he's diasporic stalwart Mira Nair's son — was hard not to bring up in conversation. But his win played out against a troubling rise in anti-immigrant sentiments across the United States and elsewhere. Shahana reflects on the role of art in that fight, saying, 'I do think that art reflects life and oftentimes art influences life,' she says. 'Part of the reason why Zohran was successful was perhaps because we're living in a time of unbelievable polarisation where the other extreme is so strong. Sometimes you do need an extreme to combat an extreme.' Still, she believes in the role of art in shaping possibility. 'This is a beautiful way in which the city [New York] has shown its solidarity in wanting a different kind of society and community and future.'
Does she see herself as part of this growing global wave of South Asian storytelling? 'I hope so,' she says. 'Every drop in the ocean matters. You're seeing more brown people on screen without needing to explain their presence. Films like Santosh or All We Imagine As Light — by Indians and for Indians — travel far. But that doesn't necessarily mean that just because you're brown, you should only be telling brown stories.'
And though mainstream Indian cinema has a way to go, Shahana also seems optimistic about the progress made in the industry's blind spots. 'The narratives are changing. The roles are more nuanced, not just for women, but for men too. There's much more focus on the male vulnerability or the fact that men are also victims of patriarchy.'
Even her dreams are articulated with a giddy precision. 'Denis Villeneuve is on top of my list because I've loved all his films. I think that he has this beautiful balance of being able to do something on a very large scale, but with deep emotion and great cinematic value,' she says. 'Arrival is my favourite. I keep manifesting that I'll be in Dune 3, because that universe includes everyone from different parts of the world.'
And if Villeneuve doesn't call? 'Pedro Almodóvar,' she says without missing a beat. 'I thought it would never happen because when would I ever learn Spanish? But now he's making English films. So maybe. Just maybe.'
Four Years Later is currently available to stream on Lionsgate Play

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


India.com
38 minutes ago
- India.com
India's highest paid TV star? Salman Khan's Bigg Boss 19 fees will leave you in shock, actor to charge Rs...
India's highest paid TV star? Salman Khan's Bigg Boss 19 fees will leave you in shock, actor to charge Rs... Bigg Boss 19 is all set to begin soon, and the show is already creating buzz with the list of its final contestants. Slated to premier on JioHotstar from August 30 and being telecasted on television after 90 minutes, the audience can't wait to watch the upcoming season. As details of the show are currently making headlines, actor and host Salman Khan's fees for the show has also been revealed. How much is Salman Khan charging for Bigg Boss 19? According to a report by Screen, Khan will be taking home Rs 8-10 crore per weekend, which amplifies his total earnings to Rs 120-150 crore for hosting the show. As the season will run for five months, he will host the first three months, after which Farah Khan, Karan Johar, and Anil Kapoor are expected to take over. Reports mention that the Bigg Boss 19's promo was shot on July 12 from 2 pm till midnight, around a political-based theme. Unlike other seasons, this year's show is being treated as an extension of its OTT format. Moreover, this season's production is comparatively operated on a leaner budget. According to reports, Salman Khan previously took Rs 96 crore for hosting Bigg Boss OTT 2. For seasons 18 and 17, the actor charged Rs 250 crore and Rs 200 crore respectively. Amitabh Bachchan beats Salman Khan as highest-paid TV host? Amitabh Bachchan, who is all set to return to small screen as the host of Kaun Banega Crorepati 17, has surpassed Salman Khan in the race of the highest-paid TV host title. With the upcoming season that is set to premier on August 11, 2025, the legendary actor has reportedly become the top-paid host on Indian television. A report from indicates that Big B will be earning Rs 5 crore from five episodes each, which will make his weekly earnings to around Rs 25 crore. Bigg Boss 19 contestants Talking about this year's contestants, nothing has been finalised yet. However, rumours report around 20 names including celebrities like Gautami Kapoor, Gaurav Taneja, Mr Faisu, Dhanashree Verma, Dheeraj Dhoopar, Alisha Panwar, Khushi Dubey, Apoorva Mukhija, Purav Jha, Gaurav Khanna, Dhanashree Verma, Sriram Chandra, Arshifa Khan, and Mickey Makeover.


Indian Express
38 minutes ago
- Indian Express
How Divya Deshmukh, 19, brought down ex-women's world champion Tan Zhongyi to enter FIDE World Cup final
Like David with a slingshot and a stone, 19-year-old Divya Deshmukh just brought down another Goliath at the FIDE Women's World Cup in Batumi after defeating former women's world champion Tan Zhongyi on Wednesday. This will be one of the contenders for the most dramatic game of the year, a five-hour battle that lasted 101 moves and saw Tan having an edge at one stage, then making an error to allow Divya to take control of the game, then Divya repaid the favour by throwing away a winning position. And just when a draw appeared to be the likeliest outcome, an error from Tan allowed Divya victory. The end of the game some emotional moments from both players: as Tan searched desperately for another escape hatch and tried to think of a Hail Mary of a move, Divya, realising that there was no way she was going to lose, covered her eyes and composed herself. Tan herself looked aghast at how she had let the game slip away. The 19-year-old from Maharashtra thus earns a spot in the FIDE Women's Candidates tournament, a grandmaster norm and a spot in the final. The other semi-final of the day, between Koneru Humpy and Lei Tingjie ended in a draw after a phase where Humpy had winning chances. Humpy and Lei will be back on the board tomorrow for rapid tiebreaks for a chance to face off against Divya. Divya has been the revelation of the Women's World Cup in Georgia's Batumi, taking down promising IM from Serbia Injac Teodora, world no 6 from China Zhu Jiner, veteran Indian grandmaster Dronavalli Harika, and finally a woman who was the women's world champion in 2018. Divya's run at the ongoing FIDE Women's World Cup is reminiscent of the 2023 FIDE World Cup when an 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa had gone on a giant-killing spree, taking down Arjun Erigaisi, Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura before losing in the final to Magnus Carlsen. Only last year, Divya became a World Junior Champion. Since then, she's been the face of the Indian women's team that won the gold at the Chess Olympiad at Budapest last year, where she won an individual gold medal herself. Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. ... Read More


Indian Express
38 minutes ago
- Indian Express
‘Theatre was his protest': Pune remembers Ratan Thiyam
Around 50 people gathered at the condolence meeting held at The Box in Pune to remember one of the most towering figures of Indian theatre, Ratan Thiyam. The event had eminent director Atul Pethe reading excerpts from a write up about Thiyam and playwrights Ashutosh Potdar and Satish Alekar and filmmaker and film educator Anupam Barve talking about Thiyam. Thiyam died at 76 at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal. The condolence meeting recalled the influence of Thiyam, who had brought many of his iconic plays to Pune. Alekar shared many important incidents, facts and insights about Thiyam, his theatre and Manipuri tradition and culture. Thiyam's works seamlessly merged ancient Indian performance traditions with contemporary narratives. His death marks the end of an era in Indian performing arts. Thiyam was a recipient of the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1987 and is remembered as a theatre guru who redefined the language of stagecraft in India. 'This is a massive loss to the cultural field of Manipur, and Indian theatre as a whole. A few years ago, we lost the other side of the coin, the director Heisnam Kanhailal. Now, with Ratan ji gone, Manipuri theatre has lost both its giants,' said Alekar, a Marathi playwright and co-founder of the Theatre Academy of Pune. Born on January 20, 1948, Thiyam was a student of Ebrahim Alkazi at the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi. 'He didn't replicate Alkazi's theatre. Thiyam created his own theatre with his own roots- Manipuri roots, which are distinctly different from Indian mainstream traditions,' said Alekar. In plays, such as Antigone, Urubhangam, Ritusamhara and Andha Yug, Thiyam developed a language of theatre that was spiritually intense, visually immersive, and politically resonant. 'Andha Yug was not just a play. It was a complete visual and sonic experience. The chorus was composed entirely of Manipuri performers. It became a tragedy of the people of Manipur told through a new angle. That was the genius of Ratan Thiyam,' said Anirudha Kuthwad, director and theatre educator associated with NSD and FTII. Thiyam often referred to theatre as a medium of protest, not mere performance. 'He believed in theatre as a tool to voice the pain of his people. He once said in a discussion, 'I see theatre as protest. I see the play as a protest.' And that's how he lived it,' added Kuthwad. One of his later landmark productions, When We Dead Awaken, an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's work, was placed in the contemporary context of Manipur's turmoil, reinforcing his commitment to using myth to critique the present. Kuthwad echoed the sentiment, 'We may never see someone like him again. His devotion, his creative energy, even in his senior years was unmatched. He didn't just take Manipuri theatre to India, he took it to the world.' 'The government should take note of what Ratan and Kanhailal built. What Manipur needs right now is not more politics, but cultural intervention- classical concerts, traditional performances, contemporary plays grounded in reality. That would be the true homage to Ratan Thiyam's life's work,'said Alekar.