Presently, Nandita Das is busy shooting for her latest Pak movie ‘Ramchand Pakistani’ and her penchant for unconventional cinema.
Nandita Das on her Pak film ‘Ramchand Pakistani’ and her penchant for unconventional cinema.
She played the courageous woman fighting for justice in ‘Bawandar’, an outcast in ‘Maati Maay’ and the mischievous youngster in ‘Bas Yun Hi’.
With perhaps the most colourful spectrum of roles to her credit, not to forget ‘Fire’, Nandita Das is an actor who feels creative satisfaction is more important than the
box-office collections.
Ask her about her inclination towards serious cinema and she explains, “These are the kind of movies that I can relate to. I didn’t grow up watching mainstream commercial films. I agree everyone would want their films to reach the maximum audiences but that can’t be the only criteria.” Nandita asserts that there should be space for both to survive—the mainstream and the independent.
Presently, Nandita is busy shooting for her latest movie ‘Ramchand Pakistani’ directed by Mehreen Jabbar in Pakistan. Nandita plays the mother of a seven-year- old child, who accidentally crosses the border. “In Pakistan, most talented actors and directors are in television. The cinema industry produces mediocre films. So, this film is one of the few independent movies from Pakistan. I feel fortunate to be in this project. The actors in this film are all Pakistanis,” says Nandita.
Nandita’s visit to the neighboring country is an experience in itself. “This is my fifth trip to Pakistan but my first ever trip to rural Pakistan. We shot in Sindh, where you have a lot of the population speaking Sindhi and Gujarati,” says Nandita.
Her upcoming movie, Jagmohan Mundra’s ‘Provoked’ is based on domestic violence with Aishwarya Rai in the lead. “I wanted to support the issue. Also, I had already worked with Jagmohan before,” says Nandita.
The actor is also excited with her Santosh Sivan’s film ‘Road to the Sky’ (working title). “It is a story set in the 1930s about love, trust and betrayal. I play a housekeeper and the love interest of a British saheb,” explains Nandita.
Nandita feels amused on how her unconventional characters fail to leave the media’s attention. “I’ve been doing films in different languages, often dismissed as regional cinema. There’s no pattern in my work graph. Sometimes I’ve done one film a year and at times five. It all depends on whether I get something interesting,” says Nandita.
h_vikas@dnaindia.net
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