We recently connected with Aarti Shah and have shared our conversation below.
Aarti, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
A play called Exodus, which was performed in London in June 2023. This play was about the Ugandan Expulsion and the migration from India to Uganda to England. I kept saying to myself that I’ve not seen enough stories about the migration from India and really want to see more around it told. It was an absolute honour to be a part of the storytelling of something so close to home. The play was also based on real life stories, some of whom came to watch the play, so the fact that we got to perform these stories to a real life audience and the people themselves added another layer and highlighted the importance of these stories. I believe that it’s so important to tell untold stories and to amplify those voices and I’m so glad that art and this play allowed me to do that. We also had a lot of discussions on this part of history with the cast and crew and shared research that we had all done, which actually increased my own knowledge of what took place during this expulsion. This project allowed me to feel more connected to myself and the character as well and when I say, the people make the job, they do. I really enjoyed working with a lovely bunch of actors on this project and a lot of laughs were had! Also, never in my life did I think that I’d be doing Garba/Dandiya (traditional Gujarati dance) on stage and singing Bob Marley, all whilst wearing a sari, so I’m very glad that this project allowed me to do that! We also had a Q&A after the show, in order to get feedback to further develop this play and to hear what the people who’s stories it was based around thought and hearing such good feedback from them made us feel like we’d done the play justice.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hi, my name is Aarti Shah and I’m an actor from London, with bases in London, Manchester and Leicester. I also run a platform called South Asian Artists, which is a support and networking platform for South Asian artists/creatives. I first got into acting around the age of eight, when I attended a Saturday theatre arts school called, Stagecoach. This introduced me to the world of arts and I really enjoyed my time at Stagecoach, which included singing, dancing, acting and end of term performances. Also, doing a few pantomimes and taking part in school productions further fuelled this love for the arts. My mum signed me up with the Stagecoach agency at around 15 and that’s where I did my first few professional jobs, which were commercials. I really enjoyed the world of being on set and in general, the energy that I felt when I performed on set or on stage in front of an audience assured me that this is the field that I wanted to go into when applying to uni. When I left school, I took a gap year as I felt that I wasn’t completely ready to go to drama school/ uni to study acting, so I wanted to use this year to refine my skills and attend acting workshops and also use the time to prepare for drama school/uni auditions. I am very glad I took the year out to do this, as I felt they did help me develop a lot more as an actor and taught me some new skills/techniques. I also joined a community and hospital Radio station, Radio Harrow during this year and this was a really great thing to be a part of. I then trained as an actor on the BA (Hons) Acting Course at the University of Central Lancashire as I had heard it was a really good training course for acting. I learned so much about myself as an actor on this course and it allowed me to sign with my agent on one of our end of year showcases. In lockdown I started up a platform called South Asian Artists. I myself was looking for platforms/ zoom calls to connect with other South Asian creatives during this time when the industry was basically on pause and I struggled to come across a lot, not to say that they weren’t out there. So, I thought to set one up myself on Instagram and Twitter and see if anyone would be interested being part of some networking calls and the response was really lovely to see in terms of lots of people wanting to get involved. From there, a few group chats were set up and social media pages in the hopes to support one another and share industry opportunities and people’s work. I also attended a few zoom sessions with a theatre company called Tara Theatre in lockdown and met a lovely actor who inspired me to set up the platform. Also, through connecting with another lovely creative, further zoom calls were set up and once lockdown lifted, we managed to do some in person meet ups which was honestly a great way of bringing those internet connections to life! One thing I’d say I’m proud of is starting up interviews with South Asians in the industry as I wanted to find a way to share people’s experiences in the industry as a way to offer more insight into different sections of the arts, to reflect on people’s personal experiences and just a way to have some refreshing chats and. In all of the chats, we discussed representation in the industry too, which is another base of why the platform was created. The aim of the platform is to keep sharing industry opportunities, people’s work, continuing the conversations and to increase the sense of unity within the South Asian arts community. It is also a way to help break down the barriers we face in terms of a lack of representation.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
How uncertain and unstable it can be to be a creative and to have periods of quiet, not knowing when/where the next job is going to come from or what is going to pay the bills. Lots of work can seem to clash at once and then there can be periods of no work. A lot of the time, when I have booked acting jobs, they have happened to clash around the same time as when I’ve also got side jobs on. It can also be quite difficult to make plans as creatives or we worry about making plans too far in advance just in case a job/audition comes up during that time and clashes. We can sometimes feel that we’re constantly letting people down or a sense of guilt because of this and I personally feel bad changing plans last minute or having to rearrange side jobs. Luckily, for the most part people tend to be understanding which we really appreciate. But not everyone does, so it would help non-creatives to know that it is down to the nature of the beast and unfortunately, that’s just how the industry is; we really don’t mean to be like that. Also, in terms of being an actor, the reason you may not get the part usually isn’t just down to how talented you are. To non-creatives it may sometimes look like ‘Oh this person has been up for so many jobs but isn’t getting them.’ So many factors can play a part as to why an actor didn’t get the part and most of the time we don’t find out why.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
That your whole life revolves around acting. Yes, whilst it is a big part of a lot of our lives, it is not the only thing. Learning to be less precious when planning your life around acting is so healthy, as you realise there is so much more to life and so many more commitments than just being an actor. I think a reason so many actors have all their eggs in the acting basket is because we truly love what we do, but sometimes it’s okay to just book that holiday and be okay if it may mean on losing out on an opportunity. I personally have held back on booking holidays or events too far in advance or even worrying after it’s booked, incase something comes up. But I don’t do that as much now as it was preventing me living a life away from acting and had me worrying more. It’s also okay to not take every opportunity that comes your way and we do have power as actors to do this, if it’s not for you or doesn’t align with you.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @aartishahx @southasian_artists
- Twitter: @aartishahx @southasiana
- Youtube: South Asian Artists
Image Credits
Tarun Jasani AKTA Photography Lucy And The Lens Ri Ri’s Dance Academy Manoranjan CIC