Nandita Das with internationallly acclaimed actress and UN goodwill ambassador, Ms. Shabana Amzi
                           in the very controversial Fire, a movie about a lesbian affair.

There's depth, power and drama in her interpretation of characters she plays on the screen. Whether a naxalite in Hazar Chaurasi Ki Ma, or the wife of a psychopathic cop in Aks or even a rape victim in Bawandar, Nandita Das practices her craft by intuition…

The characters she plays don't flow out of an assembly line. Each one is built in flesh and blood. But Nandita Das considers her role of a Rajasthani rape victim in Bawandar [Sandstorm] as her most electrifying performance so far. The about-to-be-released film is the true story of a woman at the centre of one of India's most shameful acts of violence. 

The film revolves around Bhawari Devi [Nandita Das] and her rickshaw-puller husband, Sohan [Raghuvir Yadav] who are approached by a social worker, Shobha [Deepti Naval] to help her spread the word against the evils of child marriage. Bhawari takes up the cause with gusto but the villagers are so enraged they get together and gang rape her in full sight of her husband.

A horrified Shobha decides to fight for Bhawari and creates a nationwide sensation. She even helps her get Rs.100,000 from the Prime Minister's fund. Bhawari loses her case in a lower court, but decides to join hands with Shobha in her crusade against child marriage.

" This is the kind of character close to my heart," says Nandita Das, eagerly awaiting the release. Critics say her role is so powerful that even after the mauling the film received from the censors, she could still walk away with the national award.

Says Nandita, who recently won the best actor award at the Santa Monica Film Festival, USA for Bawandar, " It's a compelling theme where the film's central character has suffered injustice and has the guts to fight the system without a gun. It's a commentary on our system."

For almost three years now, Nandita Das has been forging ahead with these kind of powerful performances. She practices her craft by intuition. That explains such an assembly of characters that display the depth, power and the drama in her interpretation of a closet lesbian in Fire, an ayah in Earth, a naxalite in Hazar Churasi Ki Ma, a rape victim in Bawandar or even the wife of a psychopathic cop (Amitabh Bachchan) in Aks.

"I have no method, you know," she explains. " Acting is just a smattering of things I learnt from different teachers." Art cinema can also be boring and pretentious and hard core commercial cinema can also be frivolous and frothy. So one has to find a middle road somewhere." In any case, the differentiation has never been there for good filmmakers. See films by masters like Guru Dutt and Bimal Roy’s film and you won't be able to decide whether it's art or commercial cinema. Or take more recent releases like Maachis and Kya Kehna. A lot of good directors are crossing over."

 

Celebrity Father
What she didn't learn from any teacher was art. In fact, painting should have come naturally to this daughter of India's celebrated artist, Jatin Das. " It did," says Nandita, "but I stopped painting when I was in the eighth class in Delhi's Sardar Patel Vidayala. That was because people would say, 'oh, you are Jatin Das' daughter, so when are you going to start painting?' Just because my father is a painter was not reason enough for me to be one."

To their credit, her parents never pressurised Nandita to pursue any particular career. "As a child I learnt dance, a bit of music and, of course, painting. More importantly, since my father is a well known artist I grew up in the company of culturally-oriented people from the field of dance, photography and theatre."

Little wonder then, that after her graduation from Delhi's Miranda House and post graduation from the Delhi School of Social Work, Nandita joined Safdar Hashmi's Janmnatya Manch doing street theatre. It was during those days that she visited Mumbai and happened to meet Deepa Mehta who signed her for Fire. " I accepted the offer as the role was very challenging and the theme very bold."

Even after a dozen odd movies, this half Oriya half Gujarati girl says she takes on only those roles that she knows she'll enjoy doing. And these have included such cinematic milestones as Govind Nihlani’s Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa, Shyam Benegal’s Hari Bhari, Deepa Mehta’s Fire, Earth and the unfinished Water. Besides, she is proving quite a linguist - what with roles in a host of regional films like Azhagi [Tamil], Deveeri [Kannada], Punaradhivasam [Malyalam] and Sapner Sandhane[Bengali]. Apart from Aks, her forthcoming Bollywood ventures include Mahesh Manjrekar’s Pitah opposite Sanjay Dutt as also Lal Salam.

Everything Nandita undertakes is fashioned with intense self- consciousness. All syllables, gestures and inflections are carefully weighed and wrought. Big names don't overwhelm her. Yes, she says, it was exciting to act as the wife of an icon like Amitabh Bachchan in Aks but she adds, "It is just not in my temperament to be overawed by people. Cinema is a collective effort. Mr. Bachchan had his work to do and I had mine."

She didn't blink an eyelid when she was asked to shave off her hair to play Janaki in Water. She has no qualms about her controversial role of Sita in Deepa Mehta's Fire that sparked unrest from the conservative elements.
" In a democratic society everyone has the freedom of expression. Take the issue of Vrindavan widows' in Water. Either you say the widows have been around for a long time so let's not talk about them, Or you say, okay let's try and do something about them by portraying their plight on film," she says.

Real India
Does she agree with the charge that Deepa Mehta thrives on films depicting the underbelly of India--images that the west loves to see? " Tell me, do you see real India in Bollywood films? Do all Indians live in palatial houses, wear garish clothes, go vacationing in Europe and they dance under the Eiffel Tower? Is that real India? Or is this real India where you portray reality?"

But why does her name crop up whenever Deepa Mehta makes a film? Nandita shrugs her shoulders. " If there wasn't a role for me in her film, she wouldn't approach me. She probably feels I understand her mind. It's like Satyajit Ray casting Soumitra Chatterjee in most of his films. But she's doing a new film in which I am not there. So there's no contract that whenever she makes a film I have to be there."

Some observers suggest that one of Nandita's problem might be that she herself may possess immense acting craft and her performances may be marvellous but art films like Deepa Mehta's Fire and Earth have such limited viewership that there's a danger of Nandita going unnoticed.

Nandita says that she's never made a conscious effort to be a crowd puller and she's also not looked down upon commercial cinema. "Art cinema can also be boring and pretentious and hard core commercial cinema can also be frivolous and frothy. So one has to find a middle road somewhere."

She says she won't like to confine herself only to serious cinema. She intends to do different kind of roles---thrillers, romantic comedies, anything " that excites my heart and mind. It doesn't necessarily have to be an art film. In any case, the differentiation has never been there for good filmmakers. See films by masters like Guru Dutt and Bimal Roy’s film and you won't be able to decide whether it's art or commercial cinema. Or take more recent releases like Maachis and Kya Kehna. A lot of good directors are crossing over."

That's the kind of films she'd like to do. Maybe another Aks, never mind if it fell flat on its face at the box office. But she definitely won't do a hardcore commercial film. " Govinda is a great actor and I'd like to work with him. But with due respect, all that he does I may not like to do. Maybe someday we might like to work on something we both like."

Nandita jealously guards her privacy and dislikes celebrity status. She's had a sunny childhood and now lives in a tastefully done up apartment in Delhi's posh Gulmohar Park. The glamour life of Bollywood hasn't touched Nandita. Acting, she says, is still not her ultimate goal. " There are so many things to do in life. Maybe I'll keep doing films. But there's no urge to act just for acting. I'd like to do roles I am drawn to, roles that I believe in, films dealing with issues that trouble me. Nothing more. Nothing less

Do you see real India in Bollywood films? Do all Indians live in palatial houses, wear garish clothes, go vacationing in Europe and dance under the Eiffel Tower? Is that real India? Or is this real India where you portray reality?"

But why does her name crop up whenever Deepa Mehta makes a film? Nandita shrugs her shoulders. " If there wasn't a role for me in her film, she wouldn't approach me. She probably feels I understand her mind. It's like Satyajit Ray casting Soumitra Chatterjee in most of his films. But she's doing a new film in which I am not there. So there's no contract that whenever she makes a film I have to be there."

Some observers suggest that one of Nandita's problem might be that she herself may possess immense acting craft and her performances may be marvellous but art films like Deepa Mehta's Fire and Earth have such limited viewership that there's a danger of Nandita going unnoticed.

Nandita says that she's never made a conscious effort to be a crowd puller and she's also not looked down upon commercial cinema. "Art cinema can also be boring and pretentious and hard core commercial cinema can also be frivolous and frothy. So one has to find a middle road somewhere."

She says she won't like to confine herself only to serious cinema. She intends to do different kind of roles---thrillers, romantic comedies, anything " that excites my heart and mind. It doesn't necessarily have to be an art film. In any case, the differentiation has never been there for good filmmakers. See films by masters like Guru Dutt and Bimal Roy’s film and you won't be able to decide whether it's art or commercial cinema. Or take more recent releases like Maachis and Kya Kehna. A lot of good directors are crossing over."

That's the kind of films she'd like to do. Maybe another Aks, never mind if it fell flat on its face at the box office. But she definitely won't do a hardcore commercial film. " Govinda is a great actor and I'd like to work with him. But with due respect, all that he does I may not like to do. Maybe someday we might like to work on something we both like."

Nandita jealously guards her privacy and dislikes celebrity status. She's had a sunny childhood and now lives in a tastefully done up apartment in Delhi's posh Gulmohar Park. The glamour life of Bollywood hasn't touched Nandita. Acting, she says, is still not her ultimate goal. " There are so many things to do in life. Maybe I'll keep doing films. But there's no urge to act just for acting. I'd like to do roles I am drawn to, roles that I believe in, films dealing with issues that trouble me. Nothing more. Nothing less."

[Editor's Note: All credits to the author, and South Asian.com, except for the photos herein.Nandita is acting alongside Shabana Azmi in two plays, one called “Another Frankenstein” and in another based on the Gujarat riots and directed by Roysten Abel. Ms. Das is heavily involves in social work in India, especially in the AIDS area.]