Actor Bidita Bag has come a long way since her days of modelling for celebrated Sabyasachi Mukherjee during her college years. A popular face on national TV adverts, this lanky girl from Bengal has been a part of some interesting films including Kuhsal Nandy’s Babumoshai Bandookbaaz and Aditya Sarpotdar’s The Sholay Girl.
Recently she was seen in the web series Abhay 2, Bhaukaal and The Missing Stone. The Mumbai-based artiste spoke with us about her upcoming film Fauji Calling, where she will be seen opposite Sharman Joshi and Vikram Singh and completing a decade as an actor. Excerpts:
Tell us about your role in Fauji Calling and how did you prepare for the same?
This film was conceived by director Aaryaan Saxena post-Uri attack. When such things happen, people talk about the Army and their sacrifices for a few months and then everything returns to normal. This film is not about glorifying the war heroes but about the emotional journey of the soldiers’ families and how their lives get affected when a soldier dies on the battlefield. A soldier’s wife knows that her man belongs to the country first, but despite that, she remains rock steady and even inspires her children to join the armed forces. My character in the film is one such girl, she represents the wives of all the soldiers of our country.
How was it working with Sharman Joshi?
He is a superb actor and makes people comfortable. He is grounded and has no airs and filmed for 20 hours at a stretch in extreme weather conditions. He is mostly seen in comic roles but this film demanded a lot of emotions and there were a few very emotionally charged and complex scenes and to avoid overacting or underperforming, Sharman sat with the director for hours discussing the same.
How has the struggle been as an actor with no roots in Mumbai? What’s one lesson you have learnt from your 10 years of the journey?
It has been quite a difficult journey. I started out as a model and we are perceived as people who can’t act. So, that image needed to be broken and I started doing art house films. But that led to me getting typecast in rustic roles. Though my first Hindi film, From Sydney With Love, got a decent opening, it got panned and between 2012 and 2016 I had no work and my health also suffered.
I really don’t know how I sustained all that but I guess I was destined to make a place for myself here. All this has taught me to be patient and take each day at a time. The most important thing is to stay healthy, if you are alive, everything will happen eventually.
What are the other upcoming projects you will be seen in?
I will start shooting for the second season of Bhaukaal. Apart from that two other films, Daya Bai and Teen Do Panch are in postproduction stages. I play the lead in Daya Bai, who’s a social activist from Kerala, known for her work in Madhya Pradesh. Teen Do Panch is a comedy-drama with Shreyas Talpade.
Any particular actor or director that you aspire to work with?
Ayushmann Khurrana, Vicky Kaushal, Rajkummar Rao, Varun Dhawan and John Abraham are the ones among actors, and filmmakers include Pradip Sarkar, Shoojit Sircar and Sujoy Ghosh.
sharmishtha.g@newindianexpress.com
@sharmidas