Nandita Das is alternate cinema’s poster girl, who works in few but quality projects.
Have you inherited art from your painter father Jatin Das?
The fact that my upbringing was with a father who is an artist has definitely impacted me. He has always been interested in craft, music, dance and visual art.
Having a Bachelor’s degree in Geography, how did movies happen?
Movies happened completely by accident. Safdar Hashmi, who I was doing plays with, would always say ‘Why don’t you join National School of Drama’ but I never focused on taking up acting. So, I did my Bachelors in Geography because I loved the subject. Then I didn’t like it enough, so I did my Masters in Social Work and worked with NGOs for four-five years, and then got into acting.
Does it bother you that your city Delhi is always in the news for all the wrong reasons?
In a way, I’m glad all the muck is coming out so that we can try and clean it up. In fact, it is said that there is a rise by 200% in the reporting of cases. We are being called the rape country and Delhi the rape capital, but this is happening everywhere, across countries.
How successful do you think you’ve been with your ‘Dark is Beautiful’ campaign?
By default, I became the face of it because most of the actors who were dark have progressively become lighter and lighter with every film. When I joined the campaign, I got so many emails and letters and people literally stopped me on the streets to say ‘Thank you for supporting this campaign. It makes me feel better’.
How did you meet your husband Subodh Maskara?
Was it love at first sight? No, it wasn’t love at first sight. I met Subodh through a common friend. In fact, Milind Soman, who’s an old friend of Subodh and his then girlfriend Shahana Goswami, who was my co-star in Firaaq, tried to play cupid. Subodh and I had some similar aspirations, dreams and journeys and that’s how we anchored towards each other.
All your movies are very intense. How do you unwind?
My son Vihaan is the biggest form of de-stress. Also, music is very therapeutic.
Tell us about your upcoming projects.
I’m writing my next project, it’s a film on Saadat Hasan Manto.
He was a great writer of the 40s, who wrote edgy stories about common people. I’m also writing a project for an Australian producer. It is based on the aboriginal culture there, the native culture of the indigenous people of Australia. It’s a very interesting subject.
Any message for your followers?
We all want a more peaceful world, a safer world, a more environment-friendly world and we wait for somebody from the outside to come and do it for us. But that’s not going to happen. So, I’d suggest engage more with things that happen around you.
How was it chatting with your fans?
It was fun. I’m thankful that there are people who like my work and support what I believe in and want to engage with me.
-Courtesy Times of India
