Butterflies are free

Titli, a film about a young boy who wants to escape from his family’s violent snare, made the right noise at the French Rivera. Helmed by debutant director Kanu Behl and produced by Dibakar Banerjee and Yash Raj Films, the family drama premiered in the ‘Un Certain Regard’ category at Cannes. Shashank Arora, who plays the titular role in this film set amidst the Delhi underbelly, grabbed eyeballs and the limelight. He was overwhelmed by the reactions. “It still hasn’t hit me. I had a smile on my face throughout. Bachpan se yeh naam suna hai and we all have associated Cannes to great films.

I was like a child who had got his hands on a candy bar. It was an incredible experience. I was surrounded by personalities like Gael Garcia and Nicole Kidman,” he gushes. Recently, Titli released in India and garnered praise yet again for young Shashank. The movie also stars Ranvir Shorey, Amit Sial and Lalit Behl. Shashank states modestly that he could have still bettered his performance. “No artiste is ever satisfied with its work. It’s something you can always build upon and enhance.”

With Shivani Raghuvanshi on the set of Titli

His love for all things artistic can be traced back to his childhood in Delhi. “I was born in a family of graphic designers. They encouraged me to follow the arts. I grew up doing music and drama. I had tablas and guitars around me when I was five. I was full on a nautanki child. Then my nautanki turned serious. After school I went to Montreal to study music and film.” When he returned home, he wanted to hone his skills as an actor. He came to the city of dreams. “I landed in Mumbai in 2008. I joined Whistling Woods to learn acting. I also gave auditions simultaneously.” Waiting for things to happen however didn’t dampen his spirits. “I was never nervous about not being able to make it as an actor. I love writing, so if not acting, I was prepared to write. If writing didn’t happen then I would have jumped into direction. And if nothing worked, then boss, kami aap mein hi hai (there is some fault in you.)”

 While hw was waiting for things to work out for him, he met Sehar Latif, a casting director, “She has conducted auditions for Hollywood films like the Fast & Furious and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. She gave me an assistant’s job. I auditioned Sonam Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and other actors for Hollywood films. That way I learnt behind-the-camera skills. I also composed jingles and music for ads.” The eager-to-explore Shashank even joined Whistling Woods again - this time to be a teaching assistant. Over time he had familiarised himself with various facets of cinema.

Finally, he met Kanu Behl one day who then took him on to play Titli. “I had met Kanu long back and that time he was writing Titli. When he finally completed it, he asked me to audition for the role. I bagged the title role. Kanu asked me to research about under world of Delhi and also the slum dwellers who had a hand-to-mouth existence. I spent time in slums to understand how it is to live without electricity, without food and be kicked around,” he says adding, “Every human being has a side that seeks escape from something. Whether it’s your past, your relationships or even your own failings. Like Titli, my character, I too was seeking an escape and hence the identification with my character was easy.”
Also, to get the layered nuances right, Kanu asked his assistants to beat Shashank up, humiliate him and even strip off his clothes to help him lose his inhibitions as an actor. “Yes, that helped me understand my character Titli better. It helped them to believe that I was ready to play the shehar ka launda (city boy), someone from a chawl. In fact, one day Kanu called me to his room and asked me to strip. There I was standing only in my innerwear in front of strangers. He asked me how I felt. This was to make me realise how small Titli felt everyday of his life. This exercise also helped them judge how far I could go with this character,” he says recounting the excruciating experience.

 He’s aware of the raised benchmark that Titli has set. “The indie scene needs actors, not stars. So it’s easy for normal faces to get into cinema. But now the expectations from an actor are growing. Our level of craft is rising day by day. It might be easier to get an acting job but it’s tougher to act,” he says adding, “I surely feel blessed but not lucky. I have worked my arse off to reach here.” He’s all set for his next two films which are diverse from Titli. One is with director Kaushik Ganguly aka Q. The film titled Naman Brahman is produced by Steve Baron, the director of Hollywood films like, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) and Coneheads (1993). Shashank plays a sex-obsessed orthodox Brahmin. Then he will join Shraddha Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar for the shooting of Rock On!!2. He’s excited because the film will allow him to play the sarod, something he loves doing. “When I was selected for this role in the film, they didn’t know about Titli and also the fact that I love music. When I started playing sarod they were amazed.... I’m damn excited about Rock On!!2. I have met the team only once and they seem fun to work with.” He’s in a happy state now with the way his career is shaping up and above all, he’s enjoying the music that success brings.