EIC’s Sahil Shah has joined the growing list of comics who have taken their talents to OTT platforms. Disney+ Hotstar’s new action-comedy Shit, Yaar features Shah in a lead role, alongside Sayandeep Sengupta and veteran actors Vrajesh Hirjee and Rajesh Khera.
The series follows the madcap capers of two childhood friends, Yash (played by Sengupta) and Raj (played by Shah) who keep finding themselves in tricky situations with two gangsters (played by Hirjee and Khera).
Shah plays a slightly darpok (cowardly) version of himself on the show, someone who is constantly nervous and scared. “This is the first time I’ve ever done an acting gig,” Shah told DeadAnt. “My fellow actor Sayandeep would come with a notebook in which he would write emotions, background history of the character and before every shot, he would close his eyes and get into the zone. I, on the other hand, would be making faces, cracking jokes. I realised everyone writes a character with something in mind but at the end of the day it’s the actor’s decision to see how they want to play the role,” he added.
The Zoom Studios series is written by Sachin-Kaustuv but that doesn’t mean the comedian in Shah took a backseat. “Can I be honest? I was very involved in the writing process,” chuckled Shah. “I don’t mean any offense to anyone, but as a comedian, I know what would be funny, right? So there were many moments where I couldn’t just go and say the dialogues that were on paper. As a comedian you know that if I add this extra element or if I do this callback, or if I make this expression, it would land a lot better,” he said. Well, now that we know this, the scene in episode 5 where Raj is cleaning a statue’s nose makes a lot more sense. It reeks of Sahil Shah’s classic humour, right?
The series was shot in the period between the two COVID-19 lockdowns. Shah was extremely paranoid on set because “people just refuse to wear a mask” he exclaimed. “Every day was like—please please please let’s hope nothing happens. It was so bizarre. I have been below a truck, I have been surrounded by 50 people, we’ve done action sequences, late-night shoots, early morning shoots in 30 different areas of the city and I am… fine,” he said.
There were plenty of hilarious moments on set as well. Like the time a monkey bit both the lead actors (lolwut?). “During the shoot, there was this monkey that was on set and he would run around, drink from the extras’ glasses, jump on the camera crew. After a point of time, the monkey came and hugged Sayandeep’s leg. It was the cutest moment ever, everyone clapped. And then the monkey bit him,” laughed Shah. “He got tetanus and rabies shots and half an hour later I was shooting. And in the corner, I see a monkey. I try running. And the monkey runs faster. And the monkey bites me,” he chuckled. “That is by far the most bizarre story. A monkey biting both the lead actors of the show.”
Shah’s main goal was to expand his portfolio and try new things through this show. “I’m quite happy with the way my acting has come out and if it works, it works. Now I’m going to get into rapping, I’m going to get into producing and I’m going to get into item-dancing. So Nora Fatehi, watch out!” he said.
“Six episodes are out so far and it just gets wilder and wilder and wilder,” concluded Shah. New episodes of Shit, Yaar drop every night at 12 am.
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