The Tumbbad actor on its success, why being a producer is a thankless job, the anxiety of being an artiste, learnings as an entrepreneur, and his creative vision for his production house
Actor and producer Sohum Shah
Image: Neha Mithbawkar for Forbes India
Sohum Shah first wanted to re-release Tumbbad, the folk horror flick he acted in and co-produced, in 2018 itself, when it first hit screens. Though it received a lot of love from the audiences and appreciation from critics, its lukewarm response at the box office left him heartbroken. The film, he believes, wasn’t marketed well and had the potential to do far better. His prophecy turned out to be true six years later.
Directed by Rahi Anil Barve, Tumbbad did a business of ₹38 crore after it re-released in September 2024, more than twice the amount it had earned (₹15 crore) in 2018. The collections this time were greater than those of some new films as well. As actor-producer, Shah left no stone unturned to market the film. And though he’s happy with the overwhelming acceptance this time, its noteworthy performance didn’t come as a surprise.
Shah is everything that a typical Bollywood personality is not. The 41-year-old hails from Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan where he had built a flourishing real estate business before coming to Mumbai in 2008 to become an actor. The world of Hindi cinema intrigued him, and he considered actors to be gods. But the ‘outsider’ was not aware of the challenges he’d have to endure. “It was a layered struggle,” says Shah, who, ironically, had stage fright in school and college, and had watched only four English films dubbed in Hindi—True Lies, Speed, Jurassic Park and Titanic—as a youngster.
He hadn’t heard about Marlon Brando or Al Pacino either. The only Hollywood actors he knew were Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose photos were plastered on gymnasium walls. “I had to deal with anxiety in Mumbai… everyone around me was speaking in English, this was a new world for me. I was not able to fit in. I felt suffocated, I felt inferior. I thought people working with me were superior because they had access to the English language and culture,” admits Shah, who left the city for a while, but eventually returned in 2016 after realising that “ultimately it’s your work that counts”.
His work has indeed done the talking. As founder of Sohum Shah Films (previously named Recyclewala Films), he’s backed off-the-beat films such as Ship of Theseus (2012) and Tumbbad, and has another, Crazxy, coming up in March in which he plays the lead role. In an interview with Forbes India, Shah speaks about his varied choices, his faith in Tumbbad that was in the making for six years and why there’s no better job than acting. Edited excerpts:
(This story appears in the 10 January, 2025 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)