Art & Entertainment

‘Goodbye’ Actor Shayank Shukla: Seeing Amitabh Bachchan Made My Heart Beat Faster

"‘Goodbye’ is on an emotional note but I had to maintain the humour quotient throughout, which was challenging", says actor Shayank Shukla.

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Shayank Shukla
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Actor Shayank Shukla, who was previously seen in 'Jaadugar', 'Jabariya Jodi' and the web show 'Sunflower', is currently garnering accolades for his role in the film 'Goodbye', directed by Vikas Bahl. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Rashmika Mandanna, Pavail Gulati and Neena Gupta in lead roles it was released in theatres on October 7.

On sharing about the kind of responses he is receiving for the role he says, "I have been getting some good responses and people are really appreciating my role. Even my co-actors and director Vikas Behl liked and appreciated my work. Also, I have been getting calls and messages full of praise. Finally, I feel my hard work has come to fruition. So, the difficult part was that the film is on an emotional note but I had to maintain that humour quotient throughout with my role that audiences should laugh even when I'm crying. Since people are really enjoying my character which means I have been successful in delivering that."

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Recalling his first day on shoot he reveals, "As I said, it was a task to prepare for the role on set. Definitely, it was quite intimidating to act and perform with legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan. I was a bit nervous as well as excited and seeing him made my heart beat faster as we have seen him on screen since childhood and now sharing screen space is totally a different experience. But once I'm into character in the shot, the nervousness goes off because then Amitabh sir and Neena ma'am are uncle and aunty of my character. And Rashmika and Pavail are his cousins. So, it has to look natural when the character is sharing a family-like bond and the nervousness automatically goes off and becomes neutral.”

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“Also, I feel this pressure eventually pushes you to do better on screen and give your best. Amitabh sir is an institution in himself and a very smooth actor. It was a lifetime learning experience for me. His simplicity and dedication towards craft have inspired me which I'll always cherish," adds Shukla.

Talking about the challenges and how he prepped for the role he tells, "Actually, it was challenging because I was simultaneously doing two projects -- one was 'Jaadugar' which is on Netflix and the other 'Goodbye'. Both of them were completely contrasting with each other and hence, it was quite difficult to pull them off. Also, I didn't have time for the process of reading, look test, etc to get into the role because I was shooting for ‘Jaadugar’. But when I read the script on the first day of ‘Goodbye’ on the set, Vikas sir gave me a brief on the story and my character after which we had a brief discussion on the portrayal of this role. He is a very detailed and precise director. He always boosts actors to bring out the best which helped me to get into the skin of the character and understand the nuances of this role. This was the first time that I prepared for a role on set but Vikas sir made it effortless for me. The role I'm essaying in this film is completely different from anything which I have played before. He has a very different set of emotions."

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