Actor Sayani Gupta is still basking in the critical acclaim she garnered for her role as a blind activist in Margarita With A Straw where she starred alongside Kalki Koechlin. For someone whose household did not feature staple Bollywood fare, Sayani says she did not really miss out on anything. As Bollywood was forbidden, she became all the more curious about cinema and took her to the country’s leading cinema school. Sayani debuted in 2012 with Second Marriage Dot Com . In 2013, she featured in the Bengali film Tasher Desh , directed by Q (and produced by Anurag Kashyap. She has been in the news for her role in MWAS . She went blindfolded for over a month and learnt to walk with the cane. In a telephonic interview with MetroPlus, she speaks of how she learnt from the experience not to be bothered about small things, and use her senses differently.
You did a month-long prep and training for your role as a blind activist in Margarita With A Straw, even living blindfolded. What was the insight you gained about the life of the differently-abled?
We are so engrossed in our own lives, in Whatsapp and our phone, this was an opportunity to come out of my comfort zone and realise how others live.
We take so much for granted; we can’t imagine life without our five senses. I sometimes would wonder what it would be like if I suddenly couldn’t see one day. But the one big difference with say a person who is born blind is that you don’t miss what you don’t have; human evolution is such that the other senses make up for what is missing, and these other senses are augmented. You have other ways of knowing. There were many levels to my learning — during the first two weeks of the shoot, when I felt I still hadn’t cracked it, I kept myself blindfolded. I didn’t want to be bombarded by images. The assistant director would take me out of the car and lead me through a lane to the shooting spot. I’d grown so comfy with the environment I noticed one day when some cars were not parked where they usually would be, which she hadn’t noticed. When we have sight we see yet don’t see so many things. Disabled people make the best of what they have. They never dwell in self-pity. Small things don’t bother them. I hope I can inculcate that in my life. In a country where acceptance and accessibility are big problems for the differently-abled, I feel the government should do small things to help them. They have a right to live the way they want.
In a country crazy about movies, you come from a home where your father was a musician, and Bollywood movies were a complete no-no. Is a non-Bollywood upbringing even possible these days?
I don’t know what else this generation is really watching, but one thing’s for sure — every one is only watching Bollywood. I, for one, believe TV is something you can do without — it colours the way you look at things and people. It’s not the best exposure for children, growing up.
At one point my neighbour’s kid would watch these obnoxious music videos, that always objectify women. And you see little girls dancing to songs that are politically incorrect, and violent!
I didn’t lose out on much at all because Bollywood was banned. I was definitely curious about it because it wasn’t allowed at home.
But I did watch a lot of Bengali cinema and world cinema. I honestly feel Bollywood is way too big in our life — people don’t see film and listen to music outside of Bollywood, especially in north India. There’s so much more to the world. So I think there’s a bigger responsibility as filmmakers to make films that are not just about bashing up the villain and getting the heroine.
Everything is so shallow…but it’s a good time now, compared to, say, 10 years ago!
So then where did your desire to work in films and be a part of this industry come from?
Actually even I don’t know! My uncle had this huge collection of world cinema on VHS tapes which I would watch, growing up. And then when I went to study acting at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) I got to watch so many films, many of which were part of my childhood. In any Bengali household, you do talk about the medium. So there was an exposure to films. When I started working to survive in Delhi (in a sales and marketing position), the only thing I did on weekends was watch films — I would watch everything that would come to the theatres! And I realised that because I didn’t understand cinema, it intrigued me. It made me curious and opened up something in my head. That’s when I felt that it’s not a bad option to pursue cinema and FTII surfaced in my life. FTII was a life-changing experience. Specially the first year of the integrated course, was an eye-opener. I realised cinema on the whole is exciting as a medium, not just for me as an actor in the medium. Cinema as a whole is gratifying (she laughs).
What’s on the cards next?
I’m right now shooting for Anurag Basu’s Jagga Jasoos. I still don’t know what exactly I’m doing in the film because Anurag doesn’t work with a bound script. I go to the set and discover what I’m doing in the scene! But I spend a lot of time next to him at the monitor while he’s shooting…there’s so much to learn. The film will release next year. This year, Parched directed by Leena Yadav will release. I have a small but powerful part in it; I don’t believe in big and small roles. I believe that if you’re a good actor you can shine even in one scene in a film.
