Shefali Shah recalls feeling ‘terrible’ after being replaced by ‘a bigger star’ in project: ‘Aare bata toh dete’

Actor Shefali Shah has spoken about not being part of a project after she had signed for it. In a new interview, though the actor didn’t name the project or the person, she revealed that she was replaced by ‘a bigger star’.

Shefali Shah also recalled that she ‘felt terrible about it’ and hoped that at least the director informed her about the change in decision. She also said that it hurt her and she ‘lost out on a really nice role’.

In an interview with Bollywood Bubble, Shefali said, “I don’t know somebody might still sign me for a project and I would get to know the next day that I’m no more in the show or the film (shrugs). You never know. Look, I don’t know how people function. So I don’t think that incident had so much to do with me as much as it had to do with the person who did it. Finally who got cast is a bigger star, there’s no debate in it. It’s a director’s prerogative.”

She added, “All it required was for somebody to make that call or the director to call me and say ‘I’m sorry or You know what we think xyz works better for the film’. Now, that is human behaviour, that is the basic courtesy… I felt terrible about it. I felt terrible about it but I also knew the person they have cast was a bigger star, was a star, I’m not a star, I’m an actor. Of course, it hurt me. But it was more a sense of ‘Aare bata toh dete (You could have told me at least)’. Secondly, it was more of a sense of, ‘S*** yaar, I lost out on a really nice role’, that was it.”

She also said that she didn’t meet the person recently but got a message via someone apologising to her. The person conveyed to her, that they “didn’t realise I hadn’t let you know about it.”

Also Read | Shefali Shah opens up on ‘drawbacks’ of working with husband Vipul Shah, adds she never told him ‘mere liye ye kar’

Shefali will be seen next in the upcoming show Human, where she plays Dr Gauti Nath. Helmed by Vipul Amrutlal Shah and Mozez Singh, the show unravels unexpected secrets of the world of medicines and their effects on people with a gripping tale of murder, mystery, lust and manipulation. It will releases on Disney+ Hotstar on January 14.