Shayank Shukla on working with Amitabh Bachchan in Goodbye: 'Such things are destiny not hard work'

Goodbye actor Shayank Shukla talks about working with Amitabh Bachchan and filming Neena Gupta's hilarious death scene.

Shayank Shukla calls working with Amitabh Bachchan destiny, something he says he couldn’t have achieved with just hard work. He plays his nephew Chintan in the film Goodbye. The actor, who made his film debut with Sidharth Malhotra-starrer Jabariya Jodi and recently starred in Jaadugar as well, has now opened up about the movie and what he has learned from his own journey and that of Amitabh Bachchan.

Shayank Shukla with Amitabh Bachchan on sets of Goodbye.

In a conversation with Hindustan Times, Shayank shared all about the challenges of shooting Neena Gupta’s death scene in Goodbye and more. The film has an intense plot with situational comedy. Excerpts:

How was it to work with Amitabh Bachchan?

It’s a blessing to work with him. Every actor wants to work with someone who has seen an entire era. He is the biggest star of the era. This is my good fortune that I got to work with him, I can’t credit this to my hard work. These things happen only when they are destined, not with hard work. Becoming nervous before the scene is obvious but when you are in mood on camera, it breaks those boundaries. Your focus is not on who is there in the frame, your focus is on what is your relationship with them in front of the camera.

Did you learn anything after working with him?

When a personality like Bachchan sir is on set, nothing impresses you more than his simplicity. He is so dedicated towards his work even after giving several decades to this industry. After living an entire era, he still holds a film with as much hard work. He still works with the same intensity and rehearses for his scenes. I have learnt that one should always be open to learning and should work with as much energy as we have on the first day.

I was mesmerised for 5-7 minutes when I saw him for the first time on set. I used to watch him shoot even when I was not in the scene. Director Vikas Bahl used to discuss the scene with me before the shot because he had noticed that I remain lost when I look at Bachchan sir.

How did you all film Neena Gupta’s death scene which looks hilarious despite being emotional?

In such scenes, you can make it funny only if you are also having fun while doing it. One needs to feel humour to create it. Neena Gupta ji was there in master shots, a crew member would be there in other shots. We shot the film during the second wave and props like salt-made ice weren’t available. Real ice was used and layers of foam were put on it for the comfort of the actor. It was melting and we all were barefoot. Our feet turned numb. At one time, Ashish Vidyarthi sir was delivering his dialogue in a close up shot and I slipped on the icy water. I stood up again so quickly that people didn’t even realise who fell down. Only those standing beside me saw me falling.

Shayank Shukla in a still from Goodbye.

What is the best compliment you have received for Goodbye?

Everyone is saying they laugh a lot whenever I come on screen. My task was that I am the one crying all the time but people should laugh on watching me. My mom said whenever I enter the scene, everyone would say that I would now do something peculiar. The compliments by the audience matter more. Elli Avram and Rashmika Mandanna praised me at the premiere.

A scene has you looking for the North direction with Neena’s body in hands. To what extent should tradition be followed in such situations?

I believe in a very serious situation like a death, tradition gives peace to the soul. If you have done everything as per the tradition or as told by the priest, at the end of the mourning period, you feel that you have done your best to get peace for the departed soul. But one must not go into the roots of anything because then you move away from the real life. You become ignorant of emotions of those around you. We need to have the support of those around us because that is what will help us heal from the situation.

You come from Kanpur and have your own story of struggling through 500 auditions. Do things look any easier now?

Yes, things are 60 percent easier now. Earlier I used to step out with a bag and knock on doors to make people aware that there is a new actor in the city. I had to go through the ‘fit, not fit’ exercise during auditions. Now I also reach out to them and they also contact me.

Is there something you would like to share for aspiring actors like you when they come to Mumbai to become an actor?

I want to saw that things happen in their own time in this city. Even if you bang your head on the rock, it may not happen. Patience is the key. If you give up after few years of struggle, those years go waste. What if only a few months of struggle was left after that!

What are you doing next?

Sunflower 2 will go on floors in December. It is a dark comedy directed by Vikas Bahl. I have also wrapped up a web series, titled Dhan-aabad.