Every good indie film has to become stepping stone for next one: Shahana Goswami on Santosh

“We’re not going to the Oscars just yet. There is still due process left. But I’m just excited and happy that the film got the kind of platform that it did, selected for something like this that is getting that opportunity to be viewed by so many people and be in the news. Every good independent film that comes out has to become a stepping stone for the next one.

“Essentially, my excitement is for films like Santosh to be able to garner that value in the film industry and the film world globally, and then give hope for the fact that there are such films that could also have similar trajectories,” the actor told PTI in an interview at Film Bazaar, which was held on the sidelines of the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here.

She is also excited for Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies, which is India’s official entry in the best international film category at the upcoming Academy Awards. Santosh, which includes Hindi dialogues, revolves around a newly widowed homemaker (Goswami) as she inherits her late husband’s job as a police constable and becomes embroiled in the investigation of a young girl’s murder.

It is a film that makes the viewer question themselves after they finish watching it, added Goswami. “I think that’s what really resonates with people. That’s what is hard-hitting. More than the plotline and story, the fact that it’s a reflection on society that makes you just mirror yourself and the role you play in the reality that we are living in,” she said.

The actor was recently at IFFI to attend the gala premiere of her upcoming movie Despatch. The film revolves around Joy Bag (Manoj Bajpayee), an investigative journalist working round the clock to uncover a big financial scam. Goswami — who plays Joy’s wife Shweta in the film — said Despatch is a special project because she got an opportunity to work with Bajpayee and director Kanu Behl.

“It was a fascinating journey. Kanu is a special director. To play a small part in this very amazing film was something that I really appreciated,” she said. The film sees Joy and Shweta navigating their marriage which is already on the rocks.

“They are going through a rough patch. It’s a marriage that’s falling apart and is broken. It’s a journey of just the remains and the end of a relationship. It was a very delicate and fine balance,” she added. Up next for Goswami is Four Years Later, an eight-part Australian-Indian romance drama series.

Commissioned by Australian TV channel SBS and produced by Easy Tiger Productions, the English-language show follows a newly-married couple (Goswami and Akshay Ajit Singh) in a long-distance relationship.

Australia is the country of focus at the 55th edition of IFFI, which will come to a close on Thursday.