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Face off
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SANJUKTA
SHARMA
The
lady has her feet firmly planted on terra firma. After dozens
of "art" films, films, television serials, theatre
and a music video, Mita Vashisth is cushy with kitsch as well
as the alternative. Is that ever scary?
"Oh no, I am very comfortable with what I'm doing. Bollywood
has been quite demanding in its own way, although I haven't
got more than what I've been promised in most of my roles."
Which roles?
"Almost all. The one in Taal, for example, where I play
the heroine's emancipated aunt. It is a very different role.
She's out of the ordinary but then, in course of the film,
she comes across as this woman who's just smoking and ranting
and kind of messes up the good heroine's life. You know what
I mean?"
Not
many know, that acting apart, Mita loves singing and doing
make-up.
Yes, she's a make-up artist of sorts. "I learnt the art
from Pandiri Dada, the man who did the make-up for Meena Kumari
and Madhubala. Mani Kaul didn't have the money for a separate
make-up artist when he made Siddheswari with us. I went to
learn it and ended up doing the make-up for everyone. It's
been fun ever since," she says. As for music, she's still
taking Dhrupad lessons.
Talk
about fun, Mita knows how to grab her own share. It's all
about positive energy.
"The only way to have fun, I've realised, is to be consciously
around people who radiate good energy," she declares.
That's her only way to kill boredom and overcome mediocrity.
"I've been caught up with a lot of nonsense for a long
time. Like, I've had to face the camera no matter who was
behind it, because that's my profession. Now, I don't pine
for a dream role. I just want to work with people who know
exactly what they're doing and why," she explains.
Like,
for some bigger social cause?
No, she wouldn't go for anything just because it is bound
by a social cause. "I don't believe in `isms' and wouldn't
do any and everything in the name of charity. Aesthetics is
very important. If you look at the Man Ke Manjire video, you'll
see that it talks about dowry, about domestic violence, about
feminism, but in such a beautiful way. If had to do crap,
I'd do it just for money, not for a social cause, for heaven's
sake," she insists.
She'd
rather be domestic then...
At 17, Mita was as domestic as a metro girl could get. "I
used to stitch, cook, do all the girl things and my friends
would suffer comparison with me. I was the perfect housewife
material for all the mothers. Now, friends who didn't even
know how to make a cup of tea are all married with children
and I'm on a different trip altogether. What the mothers didn't
realise, then, was that I was just happy playing around with
my hands!" she smiles. She still loves cooking, as long
as she has the time to go about a dish the right, elaborate
way.
After
her marriage with film-maker Anup Singh, do they plan to collaborate
on a project?
"Right now, we're on very different creative planes.
And we've never been too involved with each other, as far
as our professions are concerned. He was away in London for
almost the whole of last year. It works pretty well that way.
But yes, perhaps we'll do something together in future. We're
open to the idea," she says.
As
of now, Mita's dying to get back to theatre.
After that "crazy" performance in Vikram Kapadia's
Musk Maiden, she hasn't been up there. "I'm going to
stop acting for TV serials. It'll be either theatre or cinema,"
she affirms. After finishing some episodes for Kaun, a suspense
thriller on DD Metro, it's adieu to television. Two films
Maya, a Hindi feature film, directed by an America-based guy
and Patal Ghar, a Bengali film are likely to be completed
soon. "Both are very different from each other. Maya
falls in the genre of parallel cinema. Patal Ghar, on the
other hand, is great fun. I play an aggressive, naughty girl.
I love the language and the Bengali mishti doi," she
laughs.
Does
she need to be on a diet ?
"It's up to me. I make sure I look my best, whenever
I appear on screen. This notion of looking all shabby and
haggard for realistic cinema is so stupid. All my films --
be it Siddheswari, Drohkaal or any other -- I have consciously
tried not to compromise on aesthetics. I have to feel good
about my looks and image to churn out a good performance,"
she says.
Perhaps
that's one of the reasons Mita has posed nude more than once.
Once in a Mani Kaul film and recently, for a photo shoot for
Man's World by Meenal Kapur. "I have a good rapport with
Meenal and respect her work. The aesthetics were all figured
out before the shoot, so I was very comfortable. The point
is not whether it's a man or a woman. It again boils down
to good energy," she feels. Well, okay, let's keep that
for another time. Enough energy spent. We'll let her save
some for the TV shoot she's nonchalantly going through out
of sheer commitment.
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