An aptitude for acting

telly review

For starters, my interview with Mona Ambegaonkar was more like a breezy conversation with a friend. Full of life and completely cheerful even after decades of being an avant-garde performer, she has certainly not let her fame get to her.

For the uninitiated, she wears many hats — model, actor, writer, producer, director and more. She has managed to juggle her various roles with aplomb and a panache that is hard to match.

An amazing performer that she is, she speaks to Sunday Herald on her eventful journey.

With her father being part of the Air Force, she had no idea that she would end up as a performing artiste. “As children of men in the defence services, a quality education was a must, and in those days, art was not considered as a viable career option. My father was posted in the Yelahanka airbase and I have lived in Bangalore for a part of my schooling years.”

Much later, after she finished her 12th standard, she went to Mumbai. “Since it was vacation time, I went to see a shooting for which Jalal Agha was the director. I was fascinated by the shoot and went and asked him if he could give me a job, and he jokingly asked me what I could do and I said I was ready to do anything. He took me on as his 10th assistant director and I served him chai initially,” she laughs.

However, it took her only a month-and-a-half to become the chief assistant director and learn all the technical aspects of filmmaking. She soon became part of several prestigious projects. Mona has also worked as chief assistant director for Mr India. For someone who never planned her career, she was offered the Rexona advertisement after ace photographer Gautam Rajyadhyakshya showed her pictures to the company. Over the next nine years, she modeled “for all products under the sun”, in her own words.

Television and movies happened simultaneously, and her love for theatre saw her perform with some of the best in the industry. She worked with renowned groups like Ekjut, Ansh, Fottsbarn Theatre Company in France and the Ton Und Kirshen Theatre Company in Germany. She has also acted in countless TV serials and films like Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa and Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, among many others.

“I have rarely gone looking for roles. They have always come my way and I have worked in about 17 films to date.

In fact, one of my memorable roles is in Mangal Pandey. I got a call from Ketan Mehta at 7 in the morning saying he had a role only I could do and mailed me the script. It took me less than five seconds to decide if I wanted to do it,” she laughs.

In fact, even her roles on television have been characters she believes in. “I will do a project where my character stands out. No kitchen politics for me, please. Also, when I did television, people knew me by name. Of late, characters are not credited with their real names, which I think is a sad state of affairs,” she moans.

However, her true love remains theatre. “The charm of theatre remains. Just like singers who practice daily, I get up and do theatre everyday. It’s my lifeline and keeps me going.” she gushes.

Little wonder then that she has been part of several prestigious plays. “I have never shied away from work and have put in long hours as acting was something I had an aptitude for. If you enjoy what you do, then you can give your best.” she opines.

Quiz her on how she has lasted so long and she says actors always go that extra mile. And what does future hold? “I do not know what the future holds, but I am sure it is something that will be unexpected — something that will surprise and delight me,” she says, with the enthusiasm of a child.
For a performer like her, no hill is hard to climb and her zest for life and zeal for work will ensure she scales new peaks of success.