From 'Rock On!!' to romance at 38: Shahana Goswami on reinventing herself on screen

For someone whose career has traversed indie gems, ensemble dramas, and cult classics, Shahana Goswami's newest outing feels like a homecoming and a reinvention all at once. In Four Years Later, a tender Australian-Indian romance drama that premiered on SBS and SBS On Demand on October 2, 2024, Goswami steps into the shoes of Sridevi, an Indian woman left behind in Jaipur as her fiancé embarks on a medical traineeship in Australia. What unfolds over the eight-part series is a quiet, aching meditation on love, distance, and rediscovery.

The show, created and co-written by Mithila Gupta, co-stars Akshay Ajit Singh, Kate Box, and Luke Arnold. But at its heart is Goswami's performance, effortless, relatable, and emotionally resonant. And while the series is centred on young love and long-distance heartbreak, Goswami's casting at age 38 breaks conventional ideas about romantic leads in mainstream storytelling. In an exclusive interview with India Forums, she pours her heart out and how.

"I keep saying, at the age of 38, I get to play a romantic series," she shared with a chuckle, clearly relishing the irony. "And it's new for me because I've never actually done anything where the romance has been the central part of the story."

It's a surprising realization for an actress who has made an indelible mark with her nuanced performances in films like Rock On!!, Break Ke Baad, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., and more. Her roles have often existed at the periphery of love stories, compelling, yes, but rarely occupying the spotlight of romantic arcs. In Four Years Later, that dynamic is flipped. Sridevi is not the friend, the sister, or the career woman standing beside the protagonist; she is the protagonist.

"I didn't expect to be chosen for this," Goswami admitted. "I thought they were looking for someone younger. But somehow something shifted and changed and it made sense."

Perhaps it was the quiet maturity and lived-in vulnerability Goswami brings to Sridevi that made all the difference. As she describes it, the character's emotional palette mirrored her own. "I felt a kind of connect to the character because the personality of Sridevi, in terms of the way she is, is similar to me," she said. "I don't even get to laugh in any film usually—so here I was like, laugh openly, live openly."

For fans who've followed her since her early days, it's heartening to see Goswami embrace roles that reflect her own evolution, both as an actor and a woman. But the audience's relationship with her earlier films hasn't faded. If anything, it's grown more affectionate over time.

In fact, Goswami is now witnessing a whole new generation rediscovering her films as comfort watches. Some of your films have aged like fine wine, we told her. Rock On, Break Ke Baad, Honeymoon Travels… for us, it's like comfort food.

She responded with a mix of amusement and reflection. "When you do something, you never know what its trajectory will be like," she said. "With Rock On, everyone had doubts about the film. It was about a rock band, and people thought, who's going to relate to this?" But what followed was a surprise: the film became a cult phenomenon, resonating deeply with urban Indian youth who saw themselves in the messy friendships and lost dreams of the band members.

"It was my third release," she said. "To suddenly get known overnight, these are not things you expect. But I feel really grateful. Twenty years have passed in the industry, and I still feel like I'm just starting. The excitement for me is still like a first time."

She notes how streaming platforms have helped keep the legacy of older work alive, allowing new audiences to discover films years after their theatrical release. "OTT has changed the game in that sense," she said. "You can discover a film in your own time, in your own space, and experience the joy of it anew."

It's a joy Goswami herself shares. "There's a whole generation now that's rediscovering the films I did. And many of them don't even know the other side of my career," she revealed. "At one point, I was asked why I was playing a 'regular' character like Pratima, because they thought I was only known for glamorous roles. And I was like, wait, there was a time when people only saw me as the girl-next-door and were surprised I could play glamorous!"

This duality, of being many things at once and evolving over time, seems to be the recurring theme of her journey. Goswami has seen herself recast in public perception several times, first as the grounded indie girl, then the stylish, global actress, and now, as the romantic heroine in an international drama. But she takes it all in her stride.

"I feel like every dream I ever had has been met and surpassed," she said with quiet gratitude. "And I still continue to dream just very different kinds now. My ambitions today are more rooted in creativity and joy."

As Four Years Later continues to reach hearts across borders, it becomes clear that Goswami's gift as an actor lies not just in her versatility but in her ability to be present—deeply, emotionally, and truthfully. She doesn't just play characters. She inhabits them. And that's why, even after two decades in the business, she still surprises us.