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Slow and steady
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Tisca Chopra on her past and present
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Photo: Paul Noronha
Making choices 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’ – she wa
s 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. “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.”
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
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