The actress acquired knowledge about the technical side of filmmaking while shooting in Sri Lanka with director Mira Nair.
As it was a long schedule, she would observe how the technicians functioned and prepared for the filming.
One day at the shoot she casually asked Mira and the sound recordist Sylvain Arseneault if she could do the recording for a few shots that had a few kids playing cricket. To her surprise they agreed.
Says Shahana, "Sylvain taught me how to operate it and egged me on to doing more. Before I knew it, I had doubled up as a sound person. From that point on, whenever I was not shooting, I would help out."
Sound recording however remains just part of her endeavours to know the process of filmmaking. For now she prefers to stick to acting!