When I was a child artiste, I struggled to fit in at school: Fatima Sana Shaikh
07/12/2021
Fatima Sana Shaikh, who was a leading child artiste, shared screen space with actors like Kamal Haasan ( Chachi 420), Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla ( One 2 Ka 4), among others.
While she was appreciated for her work, in hindsight, the actress feels that her personal life suffered during that phase as she always struggled to make friends and fit in among her peers.
That was one of the reasons she even bid adieu to movies.
She shares, “One of the reasons I quit acting as a child artiste was because I missed being around kids my age. I didn’t have a core set of friends in school. I was always trying to fit in.
But because I was not attending school (due to film commitments), I could not connect with my classmates. Likewise, since there were adults around on a film set, they couldn’t relate to me and treated me like a bachcha. I wasn’t spending enough time with my peers in my class, I wasn’t getting any acceptance from them.
Kids can be a little cruel sometimes. They would think, ‘ Achcha baahar badi star banti hai, hum dikhate hai isko’. You know many children get bullied in school, right? On one hand, I was managing shoots, which would go on for 16 hours non-stop, and on the other, I was managing school and exams. It wasn’t easy, so I decided to quit films.”
It was only when she grew up that she decided to pursue acting as her career. Her new innings, which she began by taking up television shows like (Ladies Special and Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo), left her with a bitter taste. “I used to shoot for 13-14 hours at a stretch.
Plus, the script would come to you minutes before the take,” she says, adding, “As an artiste, I didn’t enjoy this process at all. Some people enjoy this madness, I don’t. I like to be a little prepared.
So, it was getting uncomfortable for me. I enjoy doing films because you get to play varied characters for a short span of time and then move on. Playing the same character for 15 hours every day, and that too, in a show which can run for as long as five years, was not my cup of tea.”
Fatima, who ventured into movies once again with Dangal, went on to be a part of films like Thugs Of Hindostan, Ludo and Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari.
The actress who is busy shooting for her upcoming ventures, recently revisited a chapter of her life. She shares, “During the lockdown, I got an opportunity to visit my old house in Andheri East, where I spent my childhood.
It’s a one-room kitchen apartment where four of us my parents, my brother and I used to stay. I was surprised and wondered how we all fit in there, as sometimes we would have around 8-10 relatives from Jammu and Kashmir staying with us.
We have sold the house now, and the new owner was very sweet to give us a tour of the house. They still have our old furniture there.”
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