#SwastikaMukherjee#Nikhoj2#AyanChakraborti
IBNS-CMEDIA: Indian actress Swastika Mukherjee returns to Bengali OTT with Ayan Chakraborti’s Nikhoj 2, which is set to stream on Hoichoi from January 10. Ahead of the series’ premiere, Swastika speaks to IBNS correspondent Souvik Ghosh in an exclusive interview… Excerpts
Q. How much darker did it go this season?
A. We are moving towards light but what we get is very dark. The investigation is nearing an end but the end result is always not what we want.
Q. How excruciating was it to play this role as you are also a mother?
A. I feel every role is difficult but it becomes more painful for me when a character shows a mother’s helplessness. I always feel what would happen if someone else with much lesser sources than me goes through the same experience as a mother in real life. So then I start thinking about all these beyond the workspace. Even if the shooting is over, as a mother I often carry the thought in my personal space. It seldom affects me personally to an extent that I start worrying about my daughter out of nowhere. I may play these roles effectively but there is also baggage.
Q. How different was your approach to a mother’s role in a film like Qala?
A. As an actor, my approach remains unaltered but every character and her expressions are distinct. The mothers’ roles whom I played in Nikhoj, Qala, Tekka or Bijoya are contrasting from one another considering their socio-economic background, time frame, experiences, though all of their primary motherly thoughts remain identical. But their way of thinking about their children will differ on the basis of their background and experiences.
Q. What are your biggest insecurities about your child?
A. Safety. I worry about my daughter’s day-to-day worries, but the broader fret is her safety. My worries get multiplied and complicated as my daughter lives in a different continent where travelling is not as easy as it could have been to another Indian city.
Q. You are a working mother whose profession is extremely consuming, quite similar to that of a cop you played in Nikhoj and Nikhoj 2. How much could you relate?
A. I have always related to that. I have always prioritised my work. If my daughter comes for a visit, I may try to reduce the workload or ask her to join me to work but I never treated my work as secondary. I had even worked after my father passed away because I was aware of the losses the producer had to bear if the shooting was cancelled. I resumed work soon after all the rituals were over.
It was extremely difficult for me to concentrate but I had to do it. I had even seen my father (late Shantu Mukherjee, actor) committed to his work even after my grandfather passed away. It’s more difficult for actors because no one can fill in the space unlike people in other professions who are entitled to pass on their tasks to someone else in certain situations.
Q. You claimed Nikhoj’s role is a cakewalk since motherhood comes to you naturally. Do you consider opting out of such roles in future as it gets easier at times?
A. No. It’s easier to reach my emotions but not playing the character. My character is not just a mother in the series but someone who is playing multiple roles away from people’s gaze. So I have to switch to different sides of the character. If I talk about motherhood, it comes naturally to me.
Q. You started your career on television. Do you feel a remote sense of similarity between web series and daily soaps?
A. No, I don’t. Not at all. The web shows are very different from daily soaps. The series which are being made at the national level are even more serious than films. The work on OTT is harder because each episode, at least nationally, has about 50 minutes that lead a series to a total running time of around 10 hours, which are far more than films. I never felt any of my series directors on Hoichoi had a vision similar to that of a daily soap.
The budget constraint exists across all media in Kolkata but the directors have worked uncompromisingly. Moreover at this phase of my career, I will work only on projects that are spectacular. I will not do any mediocre work in any part of the world.
Q. Take us through your journey working in Love Sex Aur Dhoka 2.
A. It’s always a great experience to work with Dibakar (Dibakar Banerjee, director). His perception of filmmaking and what he seeks from his actors and how he wants his actors to perform is a different school. Dibakar will only be happy after he takes a scene for 20 times (laughs). He actually approves a take where there is no ounce of acting so that an actor seems very real in a scene. I think that also makes his films look so real. He is very meticulous.
Q. Do you still give auditions in Mumbai? How do you feel about it being someone a prominent actress in Kolkata?
A. It feels like do or die (laughs) as I get only one chance to grab the role. It’s a good practice to work on one’s skills. Even during 2015-2016, I stood in the queue and gave auditions in Mumbai. Of course now I don’t have to stand in the queue but I rehearse and give takes. I give my auditions very seriously. I do my makeup, hair and dress according to what the characters should be. I ask for all these details from the casting agencies.
It’s very unfortunate that the newer breed of actors don’t want to give auditions after a few works. I arrived 24 years ago but I still give auditions! The auditions which I give are also tough. I practice in my home and get my lines thoroughly. I learn the dialogues, which are usually long, by heart because Hindi is not my comfort language. The Hindi film industry prefers auditions so I have to follow that.
Q. Does giving audition grounds you as an actor?
A. Mumbai itself makes me grounded. Anyone will be grounded if he/she spends six months in Mumbai. One has to prove his/her credibility in tinseltown. The way they react to a south Indian or a Punjabi star is different from the way they do to someone who is coming from the eastern part of the country. We can voice an opinion but that won’t change the situation overnight.
I believe in proving myself instead of venting out because otherwise that would be a sheer wastage of time. Time is a constraint for actors, especially female actors. We female actors should be in a hurry to grab the roles. I don’t want to lose opportunities as time will not wait. I am always hungry for good roles. We need to shed our egos, reach out to people and prove ourselves.
(Images shared by Swastika Mukherjee’s team)
