Actor Vivaan Shah, who features in a short film titled Maa, says he shares the most sacred relationship with his mother, veteran actress Ratna Pathak Shah who is not only his best friend, but also his teacher for life.

Born to actors Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah, Vivaan believes that the bonding between a mother and son is the most special and sacred in the world.

“I share the most sacred relationship with my mother. She is my best friend and teacher at the same time. I can have a conversation on anything with Maa and I have learnt some of the important lessons of my life from her,” Vivaan said.

“Maa is always very particular about following the rules as a citizen. The biggest lesson I learnt from her as an actor is to focus on the process of acting and the truth of the character rather than its effect,” he added.

Vivaan, who was last seen on-screen in the movie Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laaddoo Deewana, said that as an actor, he has a natural tendency to overact a character. That’s what he believes went wrong in that film.

“I always tend to think about the effect of my performance, so I want to go a little over-the-top to create an effect. But it does not go well if I do not stay true to the character. My mother saw the film and told me that how I went wrong. So yes, I learnt that lesson from her,” he said.

In Maa, helmed by Niranjan Iyengar, Vivaan plays a young man who is a drug addict.

Talking about how excited he was to play a character that is far from his comfort zone, Vivaan said: “The story is questioning on morality and it leaves the judgment on the audience. That is the beautiful part of the story. I think the beauty of a short story is its ambiguity.

“I play a guy named Rohan who is troubled and is a drug addict. I have never played any of such character even remotely, so it was emotionally very cathartic to play.”

Having started his Bollywood career in 2011 with the Priyanka Chopra-starrer 7 Khoon Maaf, the actor is yet to explore the medium of cinema to the fullest. But the one thing that he is looking forward to is “being employed in a good project because acting is one of the most competitive professions where many talented people are struggling on the same platform”.

Maa, made for Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films, also features actors Dino Morea and Neena Kulkarni.