Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Puducherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
Slow and steady
|
Tisca Chopra on her past and present
|
CHOOSY ABOUT ROLES Television anchor and actor Tisca Chopra
Those who have seen Taare Zameen Par would have noticed that acting is not all about making your presence felt. At times, actors have to be part of the scenery. But Tisca Chopra was one of those who was ‘seen’ – s
he was an eye-catching figure in the meaningful panorama. A competent actor, she is, however, choosy about where she is ‘seen’. We last saw her in Hyderabad Blues-2. In between, she was also seen in a couple of tele-serials. In Virasat she was noticed for her villainous act. “I am not after films. I am after roles, and meaningful roles are hard to come by. I want to play a Taliban fighter, a spy, a mentally challenged person…” And a mother? “Of course, provided it is a challenging role as in Taare
…The moment I read the script, I was ready to get into the character to portray it with as much sensitivity as possible. But I must tell you, like every member of the cast, I too was auditioned by Aamir.”
Alternative effect
Few know that Tisca started her career opposite Ajay Devgan in a typical Bollywood pot-boiler Platform. “I did a couple of similar films and realised that I was out of place. I started looking for alternatives. In the meantime, I was offered an English film Binodini, where the director organised workshops before the shoot. Suddenly I felt this was the format I wanted to be associated with.” The experience made her turn to theatre. “I wanted to polish my craft. I joined Feroz Abbas Khan and worked in his plays such as ‘Mahatma vs Gandhi’ and ‘All the Best’. The plays became quite popular.”
During this period, Bollywood changed for the better and Tisca returned to the fold. But does she have age on her side, which still remains a prerequisite for central roles? “No, we had films such as Raat Aur Din where Nargisji played the central character when she was in her 30s. It was only during the 1980s and ’90s that cinema was reduced to just a trade rather an artistic medium. Today there are options.”
She is right, for she is promoting a cream on the one hand, and on the other, is doing a television show Main Hoon Na which addresses public grievances. “It is my way of contributing to society as a citizen of the country. I prefer this to taking out a morcha.”
On the film front, she is looking forward to In Such Times, a documentary with which Nandita Das is making her directorial debut.
ANUJ KUMAR
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Puducherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
|
