Shane Nigam on his ‘dark phase’, headspace during the shooting of Ishq and how the pandemic helped him to bounce back

Ahead of the Balti's release, Shane spoke about the dark days during the shoot of Ishq, controversies, and how he overcame bouts of depression by allowing all the noise around him to settle, and more.

By: Entertainment Desk

Bangalore | September 18, 2025 06:25 PM IST

3 min read

Shane Nigam opened about his dark days, depression, controversies and how the pandemic helped him sort things out

Shane Nigam is coming out with his second Tamil release of the year after Madraskaaran, with Balti, a sports drama directed by debutant director Unni Sivalingam. Ahead of the film’s release, Shane spoke to Galatta Plus regarding the dark days during the shoot of Ishq, controversies, and how he overcame bouts of depression by allowing all the noise around him to settle and more.

The actor was also asked about his bouts of ‘depression’ after making the Malayalam film Ishq which he felt like a dark six months in his life. Shane responded, “I can’t just say that it was just one thing I could specifically point out. At that time, the Kumbalangi Nights character was so free and calm for me to do, but when I shifted to the sets of Ishq, I got overly involved in that first half ‘torture scenes’ in that film.” Shane also added how he lost sleep during the time and what changed in him. “I really couldn’t sleep during that time.. Something changed within me at that time, and I went into a dark zone,” said Shane.

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Shane also addressed what led to the many controversies that plagued him for a while in Malayalam cinema. “After that dark zone, I went for a personal meditation camp. From there, I just went to the extreme opposite of whatever darkness I had earlier. I was like, nothing can stop me now.” The actor also jovially recalls how he overcame that dark period in his mind. “The COVID time gave me a proper break from my busy work life. There was no time for self-reflection earlier, but the pandemic helped me to sit back and practice detachment every day. My spiritual connection helped me. I just sit back and allows things to settle down now.”

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Balti also features Shanthanu Bhagyaraj, Selva Raghavan, and Alphonse Puthran in other important roles. The film is set to release on 26th September.

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