Popular Indian television actor and model Helly Shah is all set to take her big screen debut, ‘Kaya Palat’, to the Cannes Film Festival red carpet next week. The look of the feature film, a dark thriller inspired by the true story of rival mafias, will be unveiled at the world-famous festival in France.
Helly Shah said: “Kaya Palat is a story-driven film that gave me a new challenge I was looking for and demands a strong performance. The story is very much aimed at the international market, and we are hoping it connects with a cross-cultural audience.
“My character is going to be very interesting, sarcastic, witty, vulnerable and so much more. The experience of working with such a cast and crew was surreal. The learning has been great. I am really excited for the audience to watch it.”
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Earlier this year, the actor shot for the short film ‘Zibah’, which is a human rights based drama that shines a light on the cruelty that is endured by young children in the sub-continent, which includes psychological and physiological trauma.
She said: “Cinema is there for entertainment, but I have always believed that films have the power to highlight important social causes and make a positive change. That is what made me want to be part of this project.
“I feel ‘Zibah’ is an important film that carved me as an actor. Every project is a new learning but this had a new push to my career.”
The Ahmedabad-born 26-year-old has had a decade-long on-screen career, starring in globally popular drama serials like ‘Swaragini’, which ran for 469 episodes, the 177-episode ‘Sufiyana Pyaar Mera’, where she played identical twins, and the 313-episode thriller ‘Ishq Mein Marjawan 2’. She has appeared on the dance reality show ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 9’ and starred in music videos such as ‘Ik Kahani’, which has been viewed over 21 million times on YouTube since it was released in January 2022. Helly is now actively looking to further expand her acting horizons with web series and international film projects, including in Hollywood.
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Helly added: “I don’t believe in borders or boundaries, so would like to explore my acting craft around the world and would love to be part of a Hollywood projects if given the chance. As an artist, one would like to be recognised for their character and not from where the come from.
“Actors like Priyanka Chopra, Irrfan Khan, etc have opened an international market for budding artists like us. Being on the same path, gives me that pat on the back for being able to be recognised at an international platform.”
‘Kaya Palat’ and ‘Zibah’ are both due for release this year and will mark the beginning of an interesting new phase for the popular actress, who has millions of social media followers.