Helly Shah admits to taking a three-year acting break before Gullak 4: I needed a breather

Helly Shah recently made her OTT debut with Gullak 4 and the actor reveals why she had taken a deliberate three-year acting break before that

Helly Shah made her OTT debut recently with Gullak season 4. However, prior to that, the actor had been missing from the screens for three years with her last show being Ishq Mein Marjawan 2. Shah started acting in her teenage years and this has been the longest she has stayed away from screens. Ask her why, and she shares, “I had taken a conscious decision of not taking up a show as I had been working for so many years and I really needed that breather.”

Helly Shah admits to taking a three-year acting break before Gullak 4

Taking this break wasn't easy for the 28-year-old as she says, “Mentally I was very strong and I had convinced myself, but it was tough. You wonder if you are doing the right thing, you start questioning yourself. My mom would tell me why I don’t pick up a show. Logon ko laga tha main kya bewakoofi kar rahi hun, and even you think what to do with this free time as there is a certain void you feel. But I needed to learn a lot and unlearn even more things. In these three years, I have explored most as a human being.”

Ask her if this break caused any financial strain on her, Shah denies it, yet she adds, “When you do a show, you know a certain good amount of money will come to you while doing it. Not having that security is difficult when you have worked for so many years without a break.”

While she wasn’t seen on screen, the actor admits that she was working through this time. She is now awaiting releases of all those projects, which also includes her film Kaya Palat that she had announced at Cannes Film Festival in 2022. Ask her about the delay in the film’s release as the announcement was made two years ago and she says, “It was always an independent film made for festival rounds. The makers did take it to other festivals after Cannes, and hopefully, it should release this year.”

This year, a huge debate arose around influencers making appearances at Cannes. Shah was one of the first TV actors from India to go to Cannes after Hina Khan. When asked about this change, she says, “Influencers do get a lot of engagement, but at some point, I also feel that the exclusivity of the festival has reduced a bit. Everybody is talented and deserves to go there, but somewhere a lot of people are going there now,” she ends.