Shehnaaz Gill: No One Is My Support System
In an exclusive chat, Shehnaaz Gill opens up about Singh vs Kaur 2, learning Bengali, family responsibilities and why she insists no one is her support system.
Shehnaaz Gill is stepping back into Punjabi cinema with Singh vs Kaur 2, and the role asked something unusual of her: learn Bengali. In an exclusive chat with Filmfare, she said the language was not just a challenge but a clue to her character, who has “a lot of different shades.”
From supporting turns to leading lady
The film marks her first outing as a lead opposite Gippy Grewal, after years of knowing him and working in smaller roles. She had often wondered when she would get to play his heroine. The wait felt worthwhile because the first Singh vs Kaur was a hit, and the sequel lands as a homecoming: Gill stayed away from Punjabi films for five years, and she remembers enjoying the original while in her first year of college.
To make the Bengali dialogue work, the production brought in teachers. Gill pictured the lines in Hindi or Punjabi and then delivered them in Bengali, laughing at herself along the way. The character, she hinted, is Bengali for a reason the audience will discover on screen.
She does not see Hindi and Punjabi filmmaking as worlds apart. The work is similar even when the process changes; Punjabi sets sometimes begin without a bound script, while she prefers having one in hand but stays open to improvisation. Both industries, she says, have their own charm.
The family role and the support system she says she does not have
Gill is just as direct about her personal life. She says she now carries responsibilities usually placed on a father: looking after her parents, brother and grandparents, saving for the future and keeping everyone cared for. She does not describe this as hardship. “The burden I have been given is a beautiful one,” she told Filmfare.
She is equally clear about industry help. “No one is my support system,” she told Filmfare, adding that whatever she has achieved, she has done on her own.
Her broader message is about standing on your own feet:
- Build your own security first; she believes people must make their own choices and own the consequences.
- Do it for yourself before you do it for others.
- Treat struggle as part of the journey, not something to avoid.
She puts the point plainly, telling Filmfare, “Even your family will stand by you only as long as you are earning.” It is a stark observation, and she says she has learned that no one in the industry is her support system.
Dream collaborators and the road ahead
Professionally, Imtiaz Ali remains a dream collaborator. She also wants to work with Punjabi filmmakers who have something worthwhile to offer, and she is determined not to be cast as a “prop.” She has completed three Punjabi projects back-to-back, with more Hindi and Punjabi work lined up, though details stay under wraps until official announcements.
For fans who have watched her move from modelling and music videos to Bigg Boss, films, shows and production, the interview reframes her as a star who treats independence — not visibility — as the real marker of progress.
Source: Filmfare
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