The fiery screen scorcher

She had smaller roles compared to either superstar Rajinikanth in the recent Kaala or the critically acclaimed Rajkumar Rao in Newton, but talk to anyone who has watched either or both and they will rave about the fiery Anjali Patil whose razor sharp craft both dazzles and scorches.

From her first outing on the silver screen in Delhi In A Day, Chakravyuh, Oba Nathuwa Oba Ekka (the Sri Lankan-Sinhalese film, which got her the Silver Peacock for Best Female Actor at International Film Festival of India in 2012), Naa Bangaaru Talli (in Telugu for which she won a National Award in 2013) the 30-year-old has blazed a trail removed from most actors in her space.

The actress brushes off any suggestions of singularity in what she does. And when she speaks, her tone is not modest but matter-of-fact. "When you come from a working class family from a small town in Nashik and have dreamt of acting since you were 14 years old, you end up bringing passion to whatever you do," says Patil, who had to struggle to convince her parents to let her graduate in acting and directing from the Center for Performing Arts at the University of Pune.

The gold medal she earned for excellence while graduating, helped pave the way for the postgraduate Theatre Design programme at Delhi's National School of Drama. "That exposure opened my eyes to the world of acting and built in me the hunger to work for the best directors from across the world."

The Marathi mulgi, who has in the past worked in Makrand Deshpande's Bardo, Nagraj Manjule Sairat and Fandry and Gajendra Ahire's The Silence, says she is not averse to working in Marathi cinema given the sheer newness of both subjects and treatment. "But it is time distributors came forward to pick up Marathi films and give them their space. That is still not happening," she laments. "Both Bardo and The Silence haven't received their due."

Soon to be seen in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's next Mere Pyaare Prime Minister, she says she does not see herself being stuck in the stereotype of playing a rebel/activist. "I don't see the characters I play as being similar at all," she says and counters a question on whether she will ever do 'mindless mainstream' with a question of her own: "Is anything ever really mindless? Even for it to look and feel mindless you have to apply your mind."

The profound roles do take a toll because Patil says she finds it difficult to steep herself in the emotions of her intense characters. "I am living with my character every moment. With both Oba Nathuwa Oba Ekka and Naa Bangaaru Talli, I felt depressed for weeks after my work was wrapped up."

Even while shooting for Kaala, director Pa Ranjith had suggested and even kept a double (a man who was wearing the same clothes as Patil's character Puyal) ready to perform in the scene where the cops strip Puyal during a protest. "Maybe if she was the stereotypical

victim I would have agreed but here instead of picking up her clothes, Puyal attacks the cops with a stick lying near her. I know how much gender violence affects me as a person and I didn't want to give up the chance to fight back on screen," she says and adds, "More than 500 people were on the set. I did not want the actors playing cops to feel personally uncomfortable because that would ruin the scene and its intensity. Here my years of training in theatre helped. I told them how to hold me up and pull off my pants. Once they were comfortable I could get into character for the scene with ease," she remembers.

Despite the gruelling process, she keeps coming back for more. "Sometimes, I feel I shouldn't to do any more heavy films since they drain me, but my hunger for meaty roles always gets the better of me."

Aren't we glad that is the case?