When Shefali Shah was hesitant to play Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh’s mother: ‘They are closer to my age’

Shefali Shah, who celebrates her birthday on July 20, had once revealed she was apprehensive about signing Dil Dhadakne Do. In the Zoya Akhtar directorial, Shefali essayed the role of Neelam Mehra, wife of Anil Kapoor’s Kamal Mehra, and the mother of Priyanka Chopra’s Ayesha and Ranveer Singh’s Kabir.

While Shefali Shah delivered a memorable performance, she initially wasn’t sure about signing the movie since she was playing the mother of Priyanka Chopra and Ranveer Singh. She once said that she was hesitant as both the actors are close to her age in real life.

“When Zoya offered me the film she said ‘I want you but it is a mother’s role’. I read the script and told my husband that it is one of the best scripts I have read and the role is fantastic. He asked me what the problem was and when I told him he advised me to take it up. There were apprehensions as Priyanka and Ranveer are closer to my age. But as my character was well-written, I couldn’t say no,” she said, speaking with PTI.

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Prior to Dil Dhadakne Do, Shefali played Priyanka’s mother-in-law in Waqt. In the movie, Priyanka was married to Akshay Kumar. Shefali was hardly 30 when she played the role, leading to her being typecast soon after. Speaking about it with a leading daily last year, she said, “I was typecast in a mother’s role very early in life. I didn’t even reach a certain age. I was 20. I did a show where I played the mother of a 15-year-old, I was 20 years old when I played a mom of 45. And then, when I was around 28-30, I played mother to Akshay Kumar. So I got typecast very early, if I didn’t even have to reach a certain age point.”

Shefali has managed to break the image by appearing in various projects. This includes the short film Juice, and the Netflix series Delhi Crime. Shefali is currently busy with her upcoming movie Darlings. The actor stars alongside Alia Bhatt in the film.