Actor and producer Sohum Shah tells Ayushi Sharma how he has guarded the film as a child and nurtured it closely

Ever since the title of Sohum Shah’s forthcoming film Tumbbad was announced it has raised everyone’s curiosity about the subject of the film.

Tumbbad is a remote village in the Konkan region of Maharashtra and the film portrays the village in the 1930s-40s era.

For Sohum, the film has been a lesson that has taught him a lot. He believes that it has been a worthwhile journey. He describes the journey from his first film Ship of Theseus to Tumbbad as “massive and arduous.” He says, “During the film I was just starting out and trying to understand the landscape of the city. Now I am more comfortable and confident.”

He feels that through the course of time, he has also evolved a lot. “As an actor I have come a long way and I feel much better in terms of my craft control than I did when I had started,” he says.

The actor, who has worked opposite Kangana Ranaut in Simran and Irrfan Khan in Talvar, has been working on the film for six long years. He has “guarded the film as his child” and “nurtured it very closely.” He recalls his experience saying that “retrospecting memory is an amazing thing. More often than not, when a storm has passed by, you realise that it was actually worth going through. You see that it was also fun being able to stand through it and to not let any pain uproot you or your confidence. I have given my everything to the film and made it with my complete dedication and time.”

As both an actor and producer of the film, he feels that it would have been easier for him if he was only to act in it but when he’s the one producing also “it tends to become a little tougher.”

When asked how did he prepare for the role, he explains that the film was shot across four monsoons and apart from just the physical labour it required consistency over those four years. He adds, “I had to bulk up, grow a moustache, learn rope climbing, marathi accent and had to maintain it for those years. It was like being in a constant meditative state.”

Tumbbad has opened the Venice Critic’s Week this year. The actor is “extremely surprised and overwhelmed by the achievement.” He wanted to make Tumbbad “because it stood for everything that I have enjoyed in mainstream hindi cinema while growing, emotions, drama, edge of the seat entertainment, music, an ambitious climax. We made this film as a homage to those films, and I never expected that something so specifically Indian would resonate with audiences from rest of the world. It was a very pleasant surprise.”

The actor has worked mostly on off beat characters till now but also wishes to participate in more entertaining and commercial films. However, for him,“Tumbbad too is somewhat like those mainstream films under big banners.”

He feels that Indian cinema has evolved over the years and thinks that this is the best time to make movies in India. He adds, “Gradually there has been more and more space for diverse kind of films. I feel diversity is the re-current theme. A film is meant to entertain you first, and that will never be out of fashion in India. But I think audience is encouraging us to tell stories that have not been told before no matter what budgets you are working with. How heartening it is to see a film like Baahubali breaking the barriers of language and proving to be such a massive hit.”

He grew up watching mainstream cinema and idolises Shah Rukh Khan, from whom he draws inspiration. “I wanted to become an actor because of Shah Rukh Khan,” he said.

Sohum tells that he’s playing an exciting and meaty part in his forthcoming Netflix series named Bard of Blood. He says that there is another (yet to be titled) film that he’ll be producing next year.

Tumbbad, directed by Rahi Anil Barve is slated to release on October 12.