Parental touch

Vivaan Shah with parents Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah

Ask Vivaan Shah about his famous parents, Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah and the young actor chuckles. He reveals that if his famous dad gives him tips about the acting craft, his mother likes to instill the basic values in her children. “Dad always says, in order to understand acting, you have to empathise and sympathise with people and see things from their point of view. He reiterates that imagination is the most important thing for an actor,” says Jr Shah. And when it comes to his mother, she is an idealistic person, according to him, who has her own string of beliefs and sticks by them, regardless if somebody likes it or not.
“Like, specially in the night, I find it difficult to drive the car when they are sitting with me because they are so particular and follow the traffic rules. Mom will insist that I stop at a red light even when there is no traffic, because rules are rules. My ideas as a human being are from my mom,” he says.
The best of both worlds, as the saying goes!