Sheena Chohan wrapped the shoot for Nomad, a Hollywood film that equalled the Guiness World Record for shooting in the most number of countries – 25! Sheena plays the character of a free spirited traveller called Nadia in the film, directed by Taron Lexton.
Nomad is an unlikely love story being shot in 25 countries across 7 continents. There were over 28,000 submissions for casting, but Sheena was spotted by casting director Leslie Brown, who specializes in independent films and international casting from Los Angeles, and chosen by Lexton to play the Indian character.
Sheena was shooting in the US, when her Hindi film Amar Prem was launched at the official Bharat pavilion at Cannes, the world’s most prestigious film festival. Amar Prem, which was launched by the Joint Minister for Broadcasting, Mr. Sanjiv Shankar, is a love triangle with a twist, for which Sheena had to carry out in-depth character research.
Sheena is returning to India on July 4th, American Independence Day, to finish the last scenes for a negative role where she plays a She Devil for a webseries, then to prepare for her Hindi debut as the lead female character in the feature film – Sant Tukaram.
Sheena stars opposite the “King of Biopics”, Subodh Bhave in the Hindi historical drama about the Marathi saint. Sheena had to hire translators to study the ancient texts to truly understand and fit into her character – Avalai Jija Bai, the wife of the saint. Additionally, as the director Aditya Om paid great detail to historical accuracy and religious sensitivity, Sheena travelled to the actual village where Sant Tukaram and Avalai Jija Bai lived and spent early mornings with village women there to get in character.
Sheena said:
“It’s been thrilling to be shooting in the US, and to have my film launched at Cannes at the same time blew my mind! But now I can’t wait to get back home to India for back-to-back action, first with hours of make-up and then stunts for my She Devil role, then the excitement of Sant Tukaram releasing.
I live my life to create these characters with my directors. I have to be a blank page for them, but there’s nothing I love more than my research to understand and fit into these different women. For Avalai Jija Bai I was up at 5 am in the morning and having 17th century Marathi texts read to me by a historian! I gave so much to this character so I’m thrilled that she’s being brought to life on screen for audiences to meet her and be immersed in Adiya Om’s beautiful telling of her and Sant Tukaram’s lives.
Avalai Jija Bai is fiercely independent. She has beliefs, is full of integrity and is unwaveringly truthful in her love, in her devotion. Even in the hardest parts of her journey, she carries so much grace and dignity and those were the parts that I connected to – that she went through the worst adversities but held herself with such courage and determination.”
Chohan recently completed a South Indian film alongside veteran actor J.D. Chakravarthy.
She says:
“Building a diverse filmography has been my goal since my Malayalam debut opposite Mammootty. My extensive theatre background has equipped me to tackle a wide array of characters,” she adds, highlighting the advantage her theatrical experience brings to her on-screen versatility.
Chohan’s impressive portfolio includes prominent projects like Netflix’s The Fame Game starring Madhuri Dixit, The Trial alongside Kajol, Disney Hotstar’s The City of Dreams 2, Malayalam film The Train, directed by seven-time National Award Winner Jayaraj where Sheena launched opposite megastar Mammootty, and two films by Bengali legend Buddhadeb Dasgupta as the lead. Sheena was nominated Best Actress at the Shanghai and Dubai Film Festivals for her lead role in Ant Story, which was bought by Netflix.
Photo credits- Ana Barth
