National Award-winner inspired by Madhuri Dixit

Films didn’t just happen to Shweta Desai. The young actress participated in several acting workshops when she decided to pursue acting as a career. An engineer by education, Shweta opens up to Bangalore Times why theatre fulfils her creative needs and what she had to explore in her character in Ring Master. Excerpts…
Tell us something about your background… I am from Hubballi and moved to Bengaluru around 10 years ago to study engineering.From a young age, I was interested in the arts and dancing. Back then, we would only get Doordarshan, and Hindi films were played at night on weekends. I was inspired watching those movies and by actresses like Madhuri Dixit, and knew that I wanted to be an actress. After coming to Bengaluru, I realized that this is where I want to be and it is here that I can fulfil my dream to become an actress. I had to finish my education first since my family places a huge emphasis on academics.
How did your parents react to your decision? My mother was very supportive since she always knew about my interest in performing arts. My father, however, was a little shocked, but he is also very supportive now.
What kind of training did your undergo? I first joined Anupam Kher’s acting school in Mumbai, after which I came back to Bengaluru and began acting in theatre. I did a few more workshops here on acting elements, all while acting in Kannada and English plays. I then went back to Mumbai for some more workshops and parallely began acting in independent short films. I then slowly took a leap into commercial films.
How did you bag Harivu, the film which won Best Feature Film in Kannada at the National Film Awards? I had done a cameo in Oggarane, after which I was participating in a workshop in Mumbai. It was then that a friend of mine asked me to audition for Harivu in Bengaluru. The audition went well and they liked me. I was very happy that the team had done their homework and that helped me make my decision.
What is your role like in Ring Master? I play a teenager who is carefree, doesn’t take responsibility for what she’s doing, is interested in boys and wants to enjoy life to the fullest. In Harivu, I played a mother who was very traditional, so my character in Ring Master is a complete opposite. It’s not like I chose this consciously; it was just something that happened to come my way. What is interesting is that there are many shades to the character that I had to explore.
Will theatre take a backseat now? Theatre will always be a part of my life. I want to do many different kinds of roles, and I feel that I get to experience that kind of variety through my plays. I am happy doing theatre as it fulfils a creative need.