How Divya Dutta Learnt To Fit Into Bollywood

Brut India

Divya Dutta was just four when she first thought of becoming an actor. She spoke to Brut about her ups and downs in the industry.

Transcript

00:00When somebody said, haan haan humaari agli film zaroor karengi,

00:03so I would actually believe that.

00:05And I remember one fine day, I had actually called my mother and said,

00:08mama, I'm doing 22 films.

00:10So, and I started none of them, actually.

00:13Konfidence ke saath bolo na,

00:15toh film industry jhoot ko bhi sahi maan leti hai.

00:17That's like, jo aasani se kar lenge, wo karna hi nahi hai.

00:19Toh kuch mushkil dijiye, toh phir ussi mein hi mazaat aayi.

00:22When I was four, and I had seen Mr. Bachchan's film,

00:33and I just was too, too amazed by his screen persona

00:37and what he did to me as an audience.

00:40And I came back and I tore my mother's dupattas and sarees,

00:43and I danced on his music and songs and called all my neighborhood children.

00:48I said, listen, watch me and applaud,

00:51and I'll give you samosas and gulab jamuns in return.

00:55And I remember in school also, in high school,

00:58I was the head girl and the teacher had asked everyone,

01:02you know, what do you want to be?

01:04And I being the head girl, I was like, I want to be an actor.

01:08And there was pin drop silence in the class,

01:09because at that time you had only these five, six professions

01:13you really spoke about.

01:14And so it seemed very strange.

01:17So I was taken to the principal's office and given a warning.

01:20And so many years later, when you actually make it happen.

01:24And I went as the chief guest for one of the educational events to my school.

01:35I came like with like as an outsider.

01:40And you have to first of all, I think when you come from a small town,

01:44I had this thing of really trusting everyone.

01:48And when somebody said,

01:49Yes, you will definitely do our next film.

01:52So I would actually believe that.

01:54And I remember one fine day, I had actually called my mother and said,

01:57Mama, I'm doing 22 films.

01:59So and I started none of them, actually.

02:01So but yes.

02:03So, yeah, you believe in people because nobody here would ever say no to you.

02:07Why would they?

02:09They are all polite.

02:11I started on a multi-starred kind of a note.

02:14And so I was like the sweet little thing in lots of multi-stars

02:20who had two songs and a few romantic scenes.

02:22But then I was like, I don't want to do this, I want to do something else.

02:26I mean, I've gotten so many best actor awards back home.

02:29So that's when I got, I think, trained to Pakistan, which changed things for me.

02:34And then it paved the way for many other films that I wanted to do.

02:38But yes, after rejections, I would come back home.

02:41I would, of course, like any other child cry.

02:43But I had my mother.

02:44I had my family.

02:46And they would laugh it off and say, yeah, this is not the end of the world.

02:49Yeah, it's OK.

02:50Doosri aa jaayegi aur aati thi, doosri film aa jaati thi.

02:52So yes, I was lucky that way.

02:55Ek toh, this wasn't really something that I had to make a living out of.

03:00It was my passion.

03:06I think the best way to get into a role is to feel her and to be it.

03:11And I think the actors are very lucky that we get to live many lives,

03:16many different lives, and just be those for that given time when you're playing them.

03:21So in the vast variety of roles that I've done, even if they've been starkly

03:25different from me, like, like Billi Che was somebody I couldn't relate to

03:28because she was this very and I was very fresh from Punjab that time

03:33and very inhibited and shy and hanji type of a girl.

03:37And here I was playing this, you know,

03:41she would abuse, she was bold and she was somebody who could really take care of herself

03:46and make a statement.

03:48And wo sab mujhe matlab aata nahi tha karna.

03:51And wo dhiri dhiri seekha wahan par aur phir jab wo ban jaate ho, then I became Jalebi.

03:57And when I was in Jalebi shoes, I totally forgot who Divya is.

04:00And all the inhibitions went off.

04:02I surprise myself sometimes too, because I feel, really, am I that bold?

04:07I can say this.

04:10Can't do matlab mein ko andar lagta hoga ki, arre yaar yeh bahut mushkin hai aur

04:19thoda nervousness, of course, aayegi karne mein.

04:21Lekin, wo mujhe aur interesting lagta hai.

04:24The bigger the challenge, the more excited I am, I think, because I don't want to do

04:28something I've done or I felt ki, arre, you know, when sometimes directors meet you,

04:33they'll say, arre yeh toh aap toh aasani se kar lingi.

04:36So that is like very jarring to my ears.

04:38That's like, jo aasani se kar lingi, wo karna hi nahi hai.

04:41Toh kuch mushkin dijiye, toh phir ussi mein hi maza aata hai ki.

04:44So, yeah, I mean, there'll be many.

04:46There's been Dilli Chhe, there was Isri Kaur.

04:48I was not like her at all.

04:50She was silent.

04:50There was Ram Singh Charlie, there was Badlapur.

04:53They are roles that are not close to me at all.

04:55I mean, they're very different for who I am.

04:57But I'm loving discovering them.

04:59I'm loving finding them.

05:00And they're amazing.

Category

Transcript

Recommended