"It Was So Beautiful": Shefali Shah On Learning Sign Language For 'Ajeeb Daastaans'

Shefali Shah Ajeeb Daastaans: The trailer for Netflix's next anthology Ajeeb Daastaans dropped Friday, featuring a stellar cast comprising seasoned names from the online content milieu, including Shefali Shah and Manav Kaul. The two will be seen opposite each other in the short directed by Kayoze Irani.

In her story, Shah plays a mother determined to give her auditorily impaired daughter a full life by learning to speak her language through sign. Meanwhile pressures of marriage to a husband who is neither invested nor on the same page of their relationship prompt her to kindle a romance outside her home with Kaul's character.

Shefali Shah Ajeeb Daastaans role takes a look at finding comfort outside marriage

The two develop a profound bond built on equal love and shared knowledge of conversing in sign, a way to emote what words can't dare say. 

Shefali Shah Ajeeb Daastaans: Here's What The Actor Had To Say

"Sign language is just so beautiful. On camera, if you can say something without words then why not?" Shah says, talking about her role during the trailer launch of Ajeeb Daastaans. "I fell in love with the story."

She also recalled Kaul faring far better than her at mastering the role in the film and iterated how she felt she wasn't the best fit for the role. "I was completely lost because he was so bang on," she said. Kaul meanwhile returned the compliments saying, "To be standing in front of her... You have to do a lot more, she does it all. I was very excited that I got to share the screen with her."

Shah was last seen in Netflix's highly-acclaimed Delhi Crime series, which took a deep look at the gender-based crimes against women through the lens of the 2012 Delhi gangrape case. The show received extensive praise, even picking Best Drama Series at the International Emmy's last year, with special recognition for Shah globally.

What To Expect From Ajeeb Daastaans 

Through a total of four stories, all intertwined with common themes of love, jealousy, suppression, hesitation, Ajeeb Daastaans sets out to explore the complexity of human relationships and how the bonds we share are more often than not difficult to course through. From same-sex affection to harassment and class struggles of women, Ajeeb Daastaans shines a spotlight on it all.

"Each story also takes you on a journey where one would struggle with the moral dilemma of what’s right and what’s wrong, as the lines between them get blurred," the film trailer ">says.

Shashank Khaitan, Raj Mehta, Neeraj Ghaywan have directed the other shorts, each having picked a sensitive subject for portrayal. The film premieres on Netflix on April 16, and besides Shah and Kaul, boasts of names like Fatima Sana Shaikh, Jaideep Ahlawat, Aditi Rao Hydari and Konkona Sensharma.

Watch the trailer of Ajeeb Daastaans here: