JOIN USFor a relatively new face in the Indian film industry, it might be uncommon to have genuinely interesting roles coming their way.
But for Bidita Bag, who debuted in the acclaimed Bengali film Icche and was last seen in ‘From Sydney With Love’, going beyond Bollywood to act in Oriya, Assamese and Bengali films was the right decision.
Bidita has wrapped up three equally interesting projects, which are all scheduled for a 2015 release.
“I’ve worked on two Hindi films with the same team – the first one’s working title
is Ek Sarkari Joota, which is a satire on Jammu and Kashmir with Raghuveer Yadav and Dolly Ahluwalia; the second is ‘19th January’ featuring Deepti Naval and KK Raina, on the exodus of Kashmiri Pundits. I play a Muslim girl in both,”
she says.
Working with veterans like Naval and Raina ‘took it another level’, notes Bidita.
“Since they are both filmmakers and write scripts, they constantly gave inputs and made every scene interesting. Working with such people opens your eyes to cinema in a new way,” she says.
Her third project, possibly her toughest role yet, is an Oriya film titled Bhaunri, which was shot with real Maoists living near the Orissa-Madhya Pradesh border.
“I played a tribal woman and was painted completely black, which took three hours a day. The film shows the simple village life initially but then reflects how
politics and terrorism force the villagers to change their ways. It was scary to see how many scars most of my co-actors had. And the Maoist women have a lot of physical strength,” she recalls.
Ask Bidita which language she feels most comfortable in and she replies, “Bengali, my mother tongue. I can also understand Assamese and Oriya, which are derived from Sanskrit.
But language isn’t a barrier because acting is about emotions, which are universal. Dialogues are anyway memorised and I can always improvise while
dubbing.”
There’s no doubt that she loves this industry and she takes pride in the way her career is shaping up.
“I’m born for the camera. I look very ordinary in real life,” she says with a tone of modesty.
The actress enjoys painting, singing and is currently taking guitar lessons in Mumbai. But it’s hard to find time for anything but modeling and acting.
“My main earning is still from modelling because low-budget films don’t pay much. I’m still a struggling actress. But I’m in this for the creative satisfaction,”she says.
“I have been getting good roles that challenge me and allow me not to repeat myself. I’m maturing as a person and meeting different kinds of people. I’m
happier than I ever have been and love what I’m doing,” she signs off.