Shekhar Suman is currently enjoying the success of Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. The Netflix series marked his return to acting after a gap of 7 years, with his last appearance being in the 2017 film Bhoomi. However, the veteran actor prefers not to label this as his “comeback.” According to Shekhar, he draws inspiration from actors like Dilip Kumar and Aamir Khan, who believe in focusing on limited but high-quality work. In an interview with Indian Express, Shekhar explained, “I am quintessentially a theatre actor. It is never a comeback. You are just waiting for the right role to happen. There might be a hiatus, you give it a gap, because the role has to excite me. I don’t work just for the sake of being seen that I am a part of 10 OTT series, five films. I have taken a leaf from Dilip Kumar sahab. He used to probably do one film in two-three years. Aamir Khan… they all sort of preserve themselves in a manner that people have this thirst to watch them. There is no point getting steeped into mediocrity, that is very painful for an actor. In the midst of a show or a movie you realise that you’ve made a mistake. That’s the worst feeling.”
When asked if he feels the pressure to be “seen” to secure good work, Shekhar Suman replied, “There is never a pressure. Yes, a want, a desire to be there, to be seen around, seen in extremely good roles, roles that would surprise the audience. Not just surprise them, shock them. That’s where the fun lies. I would want to do something that would challenge me, something that I’ll lose my night sleep over. Something that makes me want to sleep with the script every night before I go to the set and keep thinking and evolving, figuring how to do it the best possible way.”
Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar features Shekhar Suman in the role of Nawab Zulfikar. The cast includes Sonakshi Sinha, Sharmin Segal, Sanjeeda Shaikh, Manisha Koirala, Richa Chadha, and Aditi Rao Hydari in prominent roles.
