In a recent conversation with Rahul Puri at Whistling Woods International, acclaimed director and actor Shernaz Patel delivered a powerful reflection on discipline, ethics, and the unseen emotional toll of working on a film set. Patel, known for her theatre roots and nuanced performances, shared that the greatest actors understand one key truth the craft stands on discipline, not just raw talent.

Shernaz Patel opens up on set frustrations and the reality of professionalism in cinema; says, “There was absolutely nothing to feed off”

Recalling a moment in her career when she wanted to walk off a set, Patel revealed the pressures that pushed her into projects she wasn’t creatively aligned with. “There were a couple of projects I took on because financially I needed the money. I had bought a flat and I had EMIs to pay, and as you know, with theatre, unfortunately, we can’t really earn much out of it. So, out of duress, I took this one particular film,” she said.

The experience quickly became overwhelming. “I remember being on the set and looking at myself and saying, ‘What are you doing here? What are you doing with these people?’ I remember being in the green room, calling a friend, and I just started howling. I was like, ‘I’m miserable. I’m miserable. I hate this part. I hate these people. I hate this world. What am I doing here?’” she shared. Patel said she faced such moments more than once, usually triggered by dissatisfaction with the environment or the nature of the work.

Talking about the challenges of commercial cinema, she added, “If you do really hardcore commercial cinema, you just have to go for it. You can’t bring your sensibility into it; you have to put that away somewhere and just go along with the ride, which I wasn’t able to do in a couple of places.”

One particularly disheartening incident involved a scene she had prepared for extensively. “I worked with a superstar in the scene who hadn’t even looked at the script and had refused to learn the lines,” Patel revealed. “The AD would feed the lines on the mic, then he would speak the lines, and then I had to respond… His questions were things like, ‘Aur phir kya hua?’ I mean, I couldn’t believe he couldn’t learn that.”

She added, “There was absolutely nothing to feed off. It was disappointing because a part I really liked. I wanted to bring a lot to her, but it just didn’t work. So I walked off that day and said, ‘I can’t do this.’”

Sharing an anecdote about another now-famous actor, she added, “I suddenly remember, I won’t mention his name but now he’s become a big actor. He would get so in the moment on stage that he would break things.”

Through her candid account, Patel emphasized that the industry’s glamour often masks the emotional resilience, discipline, and compromises actors must navigate proving once again that behind every performance lies a world the audience rarely sees.

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