If you chanced by Kala Ghoda this year, you might have been lucky enough to catch Namak Mirch, a comic Urdu adaptation staged by Shivani Tanksale. One of the most eclectic performers of her generation, the attractive thespian knew she wanted to act as a child when she was cast in Red Riding Hood. Her lexicon of work spans contemporary drama like End of Season as well as canonical texts like Hamlet. “Everyone gets a little intimidated doing Shakespeare because his texts are so well known,” she muses. Urdu and archaic English texts intrigue her because she enjoys the cadence of these languages, a fact reflected in her varied professional choices. Circa 2008, Shivani’s calendar is inundated with work. Starring in The Vagina Monologues, Hidaayat Sami’s All About Women and Saeed Mirza’s upcoming film, she now aspires to write, direct and perform in a play. The thought of doing a mono act also gets her going. “I’ve done 20 minute monologues but doing a solo performance--that’s a challenge I want!” This one’s got the finesse to pull it off.

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