Shweta Basu Prasad, who dons the director’s hat with short film Retake, says she will always be an actor at heart

Sheetal

From winning a National Award for her debut project as a child actor to now directing a short film, actress Shweta Basu Prasad has come a long way. Her directorial debut, Retake, will be screened at New York Indian Film Festival. She shares, “Retake is a short film that I have written and directed. I never planned or thought of working behind the camera. But, yes, back in college as a project I directed a short film titled The Dying Visibility of Indian Classical Music.”

Shweta, a classical music student who plays the sitar, adds. “I wrote the story of Retake in 2018, and completed the screenplay and dialogues by 2020 during the lockdown because I had so much time. I got a great feedback from actors, directors and producers, with whom I shared the story, but eventually I ended up directing it myself. And guess what, now I am travelling to New York as it will premiere in the Shorts A (Narrative) category on May 13.”

Shweta credits Sameer Nair and his Applause Entertainment for producing the project and actor Anupam Kher for having faith in her. Retake stars Anupam Kher, Zarina Wahab and Danish Husain. It’s the story of a 60-year-old artiste, who, after the death of his mentor, contemplates about his life choices.

She adds, “Apart from seasoned actors like Anupam Kher and Zarina, some great technicians also came on board, such as Aarti Bajaj as editor, Resul Pookutty (Bafta and Oscar winner) as sound designer, and Ram Sampath as music composer. Their faith gave me confidence as a writer and filmmaker. Kher sahab loved the script and he spoke to me for hours on it. We have spent so much time working on it.”

Exciting journey

It was Shweta’s mother who first encouraged her to direct her story. Shweta says, “Earlier, I was double-minded but my mother insisted that I do it.”

On her experience of shifting behind-the-camera from being an actress, she adds, “It has been a very exciting journey. Of course, on sets I feel at home because I have been working in movies since childhood. Direction was a new field, but I enjoyed it all.”

Positive feedback for Retake has not change the Jubilee actress’ focus, “I have always been an actor, and I will always be an actor. In fact, people ask me if I want to direct more or write more, I think I will play by the year because I do not want to skip too ahead. Right now I am enjoying the success of Jubilee, I am enjoying the success of Retake.”

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