In a zeyn state

ZEYN SHAW IMPRESSED US AS A STUDENT IN BOTH CLASS AND FARREY. TANZIM PARDIWALLA MEETS THE TOPPER

-  TANZIM PARDIWALLA

When Class, the Indian spin on the Spanish language drama Elite, released last year, its cast full of newbies grabbed eyeballs. Among them was Zeyn Shaw, who looks deceptively young and convincing as a high schooler (he asked not to give away his real age). Months after his acting debut, Zeyn would find himself back in school uniform to play the spoiled, rich Prateik alongside Alizeh Agnihotri, Prasanna Bisht and Sahil Mehta in Soumendra Padhi’s Farrey. While he portrays a privileged character onscreen, his struggles have been real. “Class was my first time on screen. I moved back to Mumbai in 2019. We were one of the first OTT shows to go on floors during lockdown. So that whole process was crazy. We shot for two years. Working with Ashim (Gulati) spoiled me. We got our 30 takes and all. He babied us through it all. After you do your first projects, you make a lot of mistakes and learn a lot. I didn't realise how difficult the whole process was. But it did prepare me for Farrey, as I came into the film a lot more chilled out.”

Mulling over all the opportunities that came to him after Class, Shaw adds, “It got us a lot of attention and a lot of opportunities. But unfortunately, what I've realised is that for the good roles, you still have to audition and get rejected a hundred times. Nothing's changed in that."