BHARATI PAWASKAR
THE GOAN: You may have visited Goa several times in the past but you are coming here with your plays for the first time. What was it that kept you away from this state? Could Goa expect more of you in the coming months or years?
Lillette Dubey: See, I have been visiting Goa for the past three-and-a-half decades. Goa is not new to me. It’s just that I am coming here with my plays for the first time, that too as a producer. I am running my theatre company for 28 years and have always experienced that my shows are always at least 75-80 per cent full, if not totally houseful, even in small cities. We boast to be the most travelled group across India and abroad.
For me the people, the audience matters. The initial response here is not so heart-warming. I think other theatre groups also may have faced similar situations. Goans somehow seem to be unenthusiastic to book the tickets. Now that I have come, I don’t know how Goa will receive me, and it all depends on it whether I will make a comeback as an actor, director or producer. Personally, I am a foodie and I just love what cooks here and keep coming.
TGLife: What’s dear to you - theatre or films?
LD: Of course, theatre! I am born and bred on it. There is thrill in theatre than in cinema. When we do cinema, the satisfaction is almost impossible with the kind of replications. In films, the director is the medium and not the actor/s who are just a fragmentation of the film. They are one of the many people who are in the film. It’s a shared experience and not satisfactory. With retakes one can perfect the act and show the best of an actor to the audience. However, in films one performs in isolation. There’s no reaction from the audience.
Whereas on stage, there are no retakes! The entire focus and concentration is on our job. We are nervous. The adrenaline rushes. There is enormous pressure of showcasing our best.
Few are lucky to get those types of rare, meaty roles in films that you can do on stage. Cinema does not offer such roles. Only theatre can. Cinema can offer money and popularity.
TGLife: If theatre is your passion, then why cinema? You did 50 plus films.
LD: I feel I am lucky to get good roles in films. I accepted them because these roles were special, though sometimes small but important. I never kept any manager. Whatever films came my way happened on its own. I did not have to run after work. Also I did not have any baggage. I chose films which had some standard and which offered decent roles. I did ‘Lunch Box’ because I liked the film and thought of backing the film. I did some films because I wanted to work with particular actors like Aamir. I also did special appearances in films like ‘Fanaa’ or ‘Lakshya’. Some gave me good exposure, some had good roles like ‘Monsoon Wedding’ or ‘Brother Nikhil’. I had no agenda as such. I just wanted to enjoy doing such films.
For job satisfaction, I do theatre - playing meaty, powerful, comedy characters is what I enjoy the most. I didn’t look out for that in films. Films never challenged me, it was easy to do those roles. Theatre is tough.
TGLife: Tell us about your journey
LD: I come from a professional family of all academicians - doctors and engineers. They were not excited to see me doing films initially. I did two masters degrees and then got married. However, I was doing theatre from my school and college days. Films were not on my horizon then. I joined cinema much later, in my early 40s. So far I have done 55 films and I don’t believe it! Today if you see, there are so many older women in cinema - good looking but middle aged - and there’s no work for them. I was lucky. I got roles and am still getting them…
TGLife: Your best or favourite character?
LD: My best is yet to come. It’s always on the horizon. I want to do something that would be very special and remembered forever. But I have not yet done that kind of role. This drives me constantly to better my work and seek perfection.
TGLife: What keeps you going?
LD: Passion - Blessed are those who have a passion. I love what I do. I enjoy my job and love to do it. I look forward to do it. Whatever one does - any job or any profession, if he or she enjoys what he/she does, then work becomes devotion. One is never tired doing it. It’s a blank page every day. It’s a new day.
There is involvement in it and there is growth. There is potential to better it, to enhance it, to rectify if anything is incorrect. One can work on those points, to correct it. There is this drive to excel. When something new comes my way, I look forward to play my next character. There is excitement and creative juices start flowing. For actors there’s no age limit. No retirement.
TGLife: Is there any role that you want to play but have not done yet or could not do? If yes, what is that character that fascinates you?
LD: There is no particular character as such, that fascinates me. But yes, I feel that I have not yet done such a character that satisfied me. If I do any such role, then that’s it. I am done. I will not look forward to do anything better than that. That’s why I keep feeling that I have not yet played any role that was perfectly okay. There is always scope for doing better next time and that’s what keeps you going. The masterpiece is yet to be delivered.
TGLife: Looking at life what do you see?
LD: It’s celebration time for me. My company is 30 year old. I have three projects in my head right now. I am on cloud 9 right now. I am super excited to be Nani of two twin grand-daughters. My daughter has just given birth to twin girls. I am grateful about life, every day comes as a blessing.
