WAVES 2025: Israeli actor-dancer Rona-Lee Shim'on on her India connection

Indian Express

11-05-2025

Though Israeli actor-dancer Rona-Lee Shim'on is currently on maternity break and has taken time off from essaying the role of Velma Kelly in the stage production of Chicago, she was excited to visit India, one of her favourite travel destinations.
Rona-Lee, known for playing Nurit in the acclaimed Israeli TV series Fauda, was one of the panelists at the session, 'Braving the Odds, Scripting a New Narrative', held during the recently-concluded World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025. When The Indian Express caught up with the 42-year-old actor, she spoke about travelling and performing across India nearly a decade ago, when she toured with a theatrical production. She described that as 'one of the most incredible experiences' of her life.
Moved by the kindness of Indians, Rona-Lee admits feeling a deeper connection with the country, its people and its natural beauty. Her latest trip to India bears special significance since she is now seven months pregnant. 'This is the sixth time I am visiting India. I'm happy to have this experience with my baby,' says the actor, who announced her first pregnancy, and the fact that she would be a single mother, on social media some time ago.
Amazed by the popularity of Fauda in India, which has also been remade in Hindi as Tanaav (2022-24) on SonyLIV, the actor believes that streaming services have made the world smaller today. 'When we first worked on Fauda, we did not know that it would be this big. But after its Netflix release, it has achieved a considerable following globally,' says the actor, who played the sole female member in a team of undercover operatives. She shares that she has been approached to be part of Indian projects in the past, and hopes 'to find an interesting project soon'. Referring to filmmaker Shekhar Kapur as one of her 'favourite directors', she said she has been 'manifesting (working in an Indian project) this for many, many years'.
Speaking at WAVES, Rona-Lee highlighted that the summit provides a platform for storytellers to change narratives. She also underlined the importance of women uniting to create new opportunities in cinema. She believes that social media has played a key role by giving women the power to share their voices and stories.
Much before Rona-Lee took up acting, she had been a professional dancer. She was three when she started her ballet lessons. By 12, she was part of a Tel Aviv-based dance troupe Bat-Dor. After finishing high school, she joined the Royal Ballet Academy in Amsterdam on a full scholarship. Subsequently, she became a contestant on the Israeli version of So You Think You Can Dance. In spite of finding success on the big screen , she has been a stage regular — she played Anita in West Side Story; and Sally Bowels in Cabaret. Once her maternity break is over, she plans to go back to playing Velma Kelly on stage.
Although her recent visit to India was eventful, one of her wishes remained unfulfilled — she could not indulge in her favourite north Indian dishes. 'I love rajma-chawal. But, this time, I did not get to eat that,' the Israeli artiste shares.