Key Highlights
- Her view: Sheena Chohan believes expressions can say what words cannot.
- On craft: “A look or a small reaction can express love, pain, fear or happiness.”
- Her work: Films include The Train with Mammootty, Ex-Mates and Ant Story.
- Next: Her upcoming film is Jhatasya Maranam Dhruvam.
For actress Sheena Chohan, some of the most important moments on screen happen in silence. Speaking about her approach to acting, she said the unspoken parts of a performance are as important as the lines.
“I believe eyes are the window to the soul,” she said. “For me, acting is as much about the unspoken as it is about dialogue. A look or a small reaction can express love, pain, fear or happiness, and I want audiences to feel these emotions through my performances.”
A Career Across Languages
Sheena has worked across languages and genres. She appeared opposite Mammootty in the Malayalam film The Train, worked with filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta, played a comic role in Ex-Mates, and starred in Ant Story, a psychological drama that later streamed on Netflix.
Why It Matters: An Old Idea in Indian Performance
Her approach connects to a long tradition. In Indian classical performance, from dance to theatre, the eyes have always been central to abhinaya, the art of expression, with performers trained to convey emotions without words. On film, where the camera can come extremely close, that skill becomes even more important: a single glance can carry an entire scene.
For actors who work in several languages, expressions also travel across barriers that dialogue cannot, helping audiences connect with a character even when the words are unfamiliar.
What’s Next
Sheena is now preparing for her upcoming film Jhatasya Maranam Dhruvam.
The Bottom Line
For Sheena Chohan, a silence or a glance can stay with audiences long after a scene ends, and that, she believes, is where performances truly come alive.