'Theatre is my first love'

Candid Speak

Ira Dubey has had her fill of the stage, doing world class theatre. As she made her mark on bigger stages by anchoring a popular show on small screen, the actress in her was always waiting to be uncorked.

Ira’s debut with the big screen was Rohan Sippy's, The President Is Coming. She has now signed up for a Bollywood role and will play Pinky in Aisha, an Anil Kapoor Production where she dubs her role as “crazy and wacky”.

The chirpy actress knows that theatre is an actor's medium and the film is a director's take. “There's a certain plausible energy on the stage. Acting comes naturally to me and I 've never had to make any effort to act," says Ira, who has acting running in her blood.

Ira says she wants to sign projects that would give her ample time to pursue theatre as well. "I am not sitting around and waiting for films to come my way. Theatre is my first love. Acting in films is not the ‘be all and end all’ of my career," Ira tells Metrolife.

She says she would like to do films that are challenging and exciting. "I would love to play a village girl, for instance and do roles that stretch and exploit my skills as an actor," she says.

She is happy that a young, intelligent and contemporary actress like her gets to do more substantial and meaty roles than merely running around trees. As in theatre, she says she wants to get under the skin of every character. “If it's a dark role you have to slip into that mode and be able to emote the same,” she reasons. 

The one thing that Ira has learnt in the business of acting is: "You have to believe and repose faith in yourself as an actor. There maybe more good looking and talented people around you but you have to hold on to your abilities," she says.

Drawing a comparison between Hollywood and Bollywood movies, Ira says that while there's a lack of originality in Bollywood, the Hollywood movie makers always attempt to film unusual themes. They always think out of the box,” she avers.

But she admires the diversity of Bollywood movies, “Indian cinema has it going well,” she says.