Childhood experience comes in handy

Actor Shaneel Sinha is making waves in tinsel town

When he was a teenager, he would jump from one terrace to another at his birthplace in Patna. Nearly 2 decades later, 34-year-old actor Shaneel Sinha was doing the same when Allan Ameen, the action director of Ram Gopal Verma’s latest movie “Veerappan”, asked him to do so while shooting for the thriller based on the real life of forest brigand.

Shaneel has played the role of Gandhi, the trusted lieutenant of Veerappan, who used to pass on key information and helped in sale of ivory. Having won accolades for his small but powerful role in Verma’s flick, Shaneel has been promised to be cast in the veteran film-maker’s next venture.

Born in Patna to Dr Harendra Sinha and the late Dr Nutan Sinha, (both archaeologists), Shaneel did his initial schooling at Don Bosco. When he grew up, he was interested more into extracurricular activities like playing guitar, singing and acting.

After bifurcation of Bihar, his parents shifted to Ranchi where his archaeologist father worked under the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs. His mother, who worked at Patna Museum, too shifted to Jharkhand capital.

Shaneel, meanwhile, shifted to Indore for further studies. Later, he completed his MBA from Indian Institute of Public Management (IIPM), New Delhi. Despite doing a post-graduation in management, theatre remained Shaneel’s first love.  To fulfil his unrealised dream, he shifted from New Delhi to Mumbai. Once in the tinsel town, he got an opportunity to do theatre with the team of Nadira Babbar, Barry John, Salim Arif and Nandraam Anand. Later, Shaneel also acted in various plays, including Gulzar’s ‘Paansaa’, which was recently showcased in Patna.

How did he land a role in Ram Gopal Verma’s movie? Did he have to struggle hard to make debut in Bollywood? “Many people may not believe this, but it’s true that I did not struggle much to make a debut in Ram Gopal Verma’s movie,” Shaneel told Deccan Herald.

  “A friend of mine clicked a photo with his new camera at a party and it got uploaded on the Facebook. Another friend of mine, who is an actor, sent it to Ram Gopal Verma’s office and I was called for an audition by his assistant Harshal, who was doing the casting. When I went for the audition, I had no idea that I will be meeting him directly. So just asked his assistant whom I am going to meet? ‘Ram Gopal Verma’ pat came the reply. I said “what?”.

To regain my composure, I went out of Verma’s office and had a cup of tea.     Later, when I went to meet him, I simply concentrated on two things: to keep my backbone straight and look him in his intense eyes while talking to him. I think the formula clicked and after some initial talk and testing my Hindi-speaking skills, he started explaining to me the character of Gandhi, an aide of Veerappan. By that time, I had relaxed, although I didn’t stop looking him in his eyes.”

    Sharing his experience of working with Verma, Shaneel says, “RGV is a good director to work with as he gave full freedom to me. He speaks less and only when required. He is an intelligent individual and expects the same from people around him. He took lot of interest while directing me as Gandhi brings a change in the pace of the film and is introduced in a very intriguing manner.

    “For the action scene, I tried my best to do all of it by myself as it was the most challenging activity and added a new curve to my learning. Initially I was a bit slow. But as the day passed, I picked up the pace and by the end of the fourth day of schedule, I had gained full momentum, thanks to Allan Ameen, the action director and his team.

   “While I was jumping from terrace to terrace for the camera, I got nostalgic about how I, along with my friends in Patna, used to do the same for the sake of kites, as children,” recalled the young actor.    Shaneel had earlier worked as radio jockey for Radio Mirchi, Indore, and Zee Radio, London.

    “I have also worked as an executive producer for the student’s diploma film ‘Bullet Baba and I’ which was a London Film School project. The short movie was shot in Rajasthan and directed by Aditya Banerjee,” he said.

    However, as an actor, Shaneel was first noticed for his powerful character in the short film, ‘Rebellious flower’. “This movie was based on the early life of Osho and was widely appreciated at different film festivals,” said Shaneel.

    When asked if he has to offer any advice to those aspiring actors who want to follow the footsteps of likes of Manoj Bajpai, also from Bihar, or get a break just like Shaneel, the debutant actor said: “Work hard. Have complete faith in yourself. And have patience. These days many youngsters are getting break due to their sheer talent, and not through lobbying. So if you have the talent, then lady luck will definitely smile on you,” signs off the young actor.