Playing a wretchedly unhappy scion of a criminal family in Kanu Behl’s crime drama Titli in 2015, Shashank Arora defined a new-age protagonist who was just a face in the crowd until you rubbed him the wrong way.
In Rock On 2 , Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, and Purab Kohli rightly hogged the limelight. It was the enormously talented Shashank Arora who, as the new recruit in the band, got the sur of his character right even though he had the least amount of space to grow. The lad was hungry for opportunity. He grabbed what he got with both hands.
The promising young actor entered a completely new world of crime grime and slime in Titli. “It was very tough. The difficulty was not as much the criminal mindset but in creating his body language and motives, which stemmed from his experiences. Workshops were what really helped me lose this upper middle class demeanour, and my prior training has thankfully made me vulnerable enough to play the part. Atul Mongia, who does the workshops, is a genius. All the other credit goes to my acting professor, Rob Reece, who taught me all the craft I know.”
About Rock On 2 Shashank, who has studied music and cinema in Canada, says, “I played a classically trained musician. I played the sarod and a bit of the bass guitar. Characters that are closer to you are tricky as well because one tends to get lazy in their portrayal . But the character in Rock On 2 was quite far from me as well. Banarasi sarod player who is trying to make it into the music industry, but definitely not as complex as Titli.”
In Reema Kagti’s brilliant film Superboys Of Malegaon, Shashank is cast as a small-town dreamer who wants to fly.
Says Shashank, “What brought me to Malegaon are people who value stories and feelings over money and a bunch of friends who put everything on the line to make a film. That’s what brought me to Malegaon. My reaction to what you call this ‘bizarre breeding ground of filmmaking’ is the same when I look at Mumbai, which might seem different to those who live here, but is actually a more bizarre breeding ground.”
Playing a real-life character, Shashank had to work within restrictions. “With any character which actually existed , you have a tighter parameter. My director, Reema Kagti, gives a balance of instructions and freedom. It’s up to the actor to make use of them.”
Shashank had fun working with his co-stars. “I loved working with Vineet Kumar and Adarsh Gourav every single day These are some of the finest actors in the country. We need more. The journey so far has not been easy for me. I knew nobody when I got here. But Kamal Hassan recently called me his favourite actor so I guess it’s going well.”
