BHARATI PAWASKAR
It’s always as if it’s her first time in front of the camera. Will I be okay? Am I wearing the right kind of dress? Will I deliver my dialogues the way they should be? These and similar questions constantly haunt her each and every time she stands before a camera. Today, an actor and a producer Chitrangada Singh admits having these doubts playing up in her mind even after her long inning in the film industry.
For Jim, who came to silver screen from theatre background, it was a short but overwhelming journey in the past four years in Mumbai. “Overwhelming not because of acting or its pressures but due to handling people, the managers and the hierarchy in the film industry - it’s an ongoing process! I always wanted to do films but I never got an offer,” smiles Jim who’s currently doing a play ‘Constellation’ where there’s a concept of multiple universes.
Refuting the claim that people call him a character actor, Jim argues, “I don’t believe that career is the only thing that defines you. What’s a character actor? We all play different characters of a hero or a villain or a damsel. Why should actors be tagged as character actors or gender stereotypes? When we do certain roles, we live that character. We act like that character and it does leave an impact upon our personalities. But when that role is over, the traits in us die too. To take the character out of my system, I travel, meet people who are not from the industry and get a shot of life.”
Chitrangada admits that she gets the energy of the character she plays. “In my first film, ‘Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi’ the director took me through the character. It was sort of the process which I went through, thinking the way my character would think or behave. At the back of my mind there was this constant fear, what if I don’t deliver the right way.”
On the other hand Jim, whose character of Malik Kafur in ‘Padmavat’ was that of a eunuch who loves Khilji (Ranveer Singh), shares that both Ranveer Singh and Sanjay Leela Bhansali were generous in dealing this character. They were interested in this character and fascinated by it and wanted to make it complicated, so he too was deeply interested in his character. “Malik loves Khilji but also disagrees with him. He’s jealous but is also proud of him. Playing this character was challenging but we did it with a little rehearsal and continuous improvisation, bouncing off each other’s energies,” maintains Jim who has also played a terrorist and hijacker in ‘Neerja’.
Chitrangada, who started her career with modelling during her college days for earning some pocket money, admits that she drew attention after performing in a music video ‘Sunset Point’ by Gulzar. The actress, who is brand ambassador for a number of major brands recalls how she got offer for her first movie - an Indian political drama by Sudhir Mishra, ‘Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi’ set in the backdrop of Indian Emergency in 1975. The film was made in 2003 and was released in 2005. The role got her wide acclaim for giving her character a deep sense of dignity and decency. After that, Chitrangada acted in ‘Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow’.
But soon after that she took a break from acting in 2004 when she got married. It was only after a break of six years that she made re-entry into Bollywood. “I made a comeback with a leading role opposite Sanjay Suri in ‘Sorry Bhai!’ which was a disaster at office but my journey re-started,” states Chitrangada who admits that there is a lot of pressure when one plays a villain. Jim points out, “One has to make a choice whether to rejoice or to suffer. Personal life does affect your career and vice-versa. But you should have some people around you to keep you grounded. Bollywood is a bubble. You don’t want to hear praises all the time. There should be someone who tells you where you faltered.”
Jim has not experienced any kind of bureaucratic hassles in the film industry. “What all of them care here is that every scene should be best. And every character is important. In a film only one character cannot he highlighted, one has to care the conflicts and dynamics of other actors too, only then a film will be balanced. And one must know when to switch on and off, turning the volume or unleashing things that are inside you. You must recalibrate the volume of what’s playing in you,” he rightly puts it. While Chitrangada is happy with the industry she feels that more of Bollywood must be seen in IFFI. “More of us should make our presence felt here, give time to IFFI and participate in various event in this very festival of our own,” she concludes.
