Bollywood actor Shefali Shah is currently garnering praise for her performance in Delhi Crime Season 3. In the beginning of her career, the actor essayed the role of Amitabh Bachchan’s wife and Akshay Kumar’s mother in the 2005 film Waqt: The Race Against Time. In a recent interview with Times Now, Shefali admitted that playing Akshay’s mother was a setback in her career.

Shefali opened up about setback after playing Akshay’s mother in Waqt

Shefali revealed that taking on the role in Waqt came as a professional setback, and shared what her husband, the film’s director and producer, Vipul Amrutlal Shah, told her at the time: “[My] husband told me, don’t do it. Amitji suggested, ‘Why don’t you take Shefali for this?’ and then he was like, ‘I don’t think she’ll fit it.’ One day, I put powder in my hair to say, ‘See, I can look older and mature.’ He was like, ‘Do not do this.’ But I was like, ‘No, no, I want to do it.’ Good, [I] dug my own grave.”

When asked how many years she was out of work after doing the role, Shefali said, “For the longest time, my career has been more about waiting than actually working. So every part that came… now that I look back, I don’t have a very long résumé, but I have a very strong résumé. And I’m so proud of being part of all those films. Maybe one or two where I felt nahi karna chahiye tha (shouldn’t have done it), but otherwise you do a Gandhi, My Father, The Last Lear, and there is Once Again, Three of Us, all of it. And it just keeps getting better — the kind of work that’s offered.”

About Waqt: The Race Against Time

Based on a Gujarati play by Aatish Kapadia, the film featured an ensemble cast that included Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra, Shefali Shah, Rajpal Yadav, and Boman Irani. Helmed by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, the film revolved around Ishwar Chandra Thakur (Bachchan), an ageing, wealthy businessman who becomes unexpectedly strict with his spoiled son, Aditya Thakur (Kumar), in order to teach him life lessons before it is too late.

Shefali Shah’s recent work

Shefali is currently seen in Delhi Crime Season 3, reprising her role as Vartika Chaturvedi. The new season also stars Rasika Dugal, Adil Hussain, and Rajesh Tailang, along with Huma Qureshi as the formidable villain, Badi Didi. The season revolves around Vartika chasing Meena, aka Badi Didi, who runs a human trafficking network in Delhi. The show has received unanimous praise and is available to stream on Netflix.