Bongo News.com: Life, for her, has never been a bed of roses, says Paoli Dam

She has hurt her left foot alright, but Paoli Dam isn’t your damsel in distress. Her kitty is full with Tolly-Bolly projects and she’s raring to go. On a rain-drenched afternoon, she sat back to ponder on the hardships of being an outsider to the industry, struggles that have shaped her, life and love. Excerpts:

You seem to have put a wrong foot forward…
(Breaks into a grin) I was in a Mumbai eatery when I bumped my toe into the latch of a glass door. Before I could gather my wits, my white shoe had turned red with blood. I went to a nearby hospital, where I was given stitches as my toenail had come off. I was flying to Kolkata the next morning and had to be wheeled in and out of the airport. It was so weird! Back here, I underwent a surgery. I’ve just done Ankur Arora Murder Case, a medical thriller, and it was so eerie to be back in the OT. In fact, my director (Suhail Tatari) said, ‘Biscuit mat khana’.

Did the accident give you a chance to bond with your friends in Tollywood?
Yes, I got a lot of calls. Those who I have not spoken to for long called up.

Your role in Ankur Arora… was well appreciated, but is it a commercial success?
Ankur Arora… is a socially relevant subject. It’s on medical negligence. Vikram Bhatt is known for commercial films, but this was different. As an actor, I enjoyed it. After Hate Story, this was my chance to do something entirely different. It was great working with Kay Kay Menon. A person of his stature can be so humble! Then there are others I admire in Bollywood - Ranbir Kapoor, Abhay Deol, Irrfan and yes, Nawazuddin Siddiqui… Someday, I would love to work with them.

In Tollywood too, you are rarely part of big commercial films…
Frankly, I have done all kinds of films. I’ve danced with Bumbada (Prosenjit Chatterjee) and at the same time, acted in films like Kaalbela and Elar Char Adhyay. Though I’ve repeatedly played the woman of substance, I’m open to all kinds of films. Yes, at times, I’ve had to let go of good Bengali films. But then, you have to sacrifice if you are part of two different spaces. My next film, Hoichoi, deals with theatre. Debaratidi (Gupta), the director, was the assistant director of Kagojer Bou. For me, it was like getting back to stage. I’m doing Sudeshna Roy-Abhijit Guha’s Hercules, which has Parambrata, Apuda (Saswata Chatterjee) and me. I’ll be working with Anjan Dutt. There’s a Mainak film. Subrata Sen has approached me for his next. I have two films in Hindi - a Vikram Bhatt film, to be directed by E Niwas. That apart, there’s Subhash Sehgal’s Yara Sili Sili, starring Param and me. I don’t want to lose out on any. I don’t want to leave Bengali cinema. There are good films made out of here and no one, not even Vikram Bhatt, has said that I should quit Bengali films. In Bollywood, my journey has just begun.

Mainak, Subrata and even Sudeshna-Abhijit are known for multiplex films, not commercial movies…
Rituda once told me that we are all frogs in a well. We don’t move beyond our comfort zone. I’ve worked in just one film of his. But he was special. Whenever I needed to talk, he was there. For me, he is and will always be there. He had a progressive mind and his cinema reflected that. Tell me, which actor from Bengal has done a Konkani film? I have. I want to do meaningful cinema. I’ve also worked with different directors. The language of cinema has changed now. Even if Ranbir Kapoor is dancing around, he is believable. I’ve just done Anjan Das’ Ajana Batash. In his own words, it’s better than Saanjhbatir Roopkathara. He said, there’s loneliness in my eyes. Again, I’ve done Sweetheart, which is totally different. In Birsa Dasgupta’s Abhishapto Nightie, I play a fun character. Snehasishda’s (Chakraborty) Promotion is commercial, jodio amra dhei dhei kore nachchhina. People, today, are watching realistic cinema.

Aren’t you planning to buy a house in Mumbai?
Bari kenar taka kothay? I stay in a rented place. When I’m in Mumbai, I have my lineup of meetings, dubbing, shooting ready. I don’t even spend one extra day there.

Is there a visible difference between the two industries?
We are used to bonding more in Tollywood. We’ll be like, ‘Ki re ki korchhish? Chole aye’. Even while reading a script, we’ll be cooking and eating. It doesn’t happen everywhere in Mumbai. Only old-timers like Subhash Sehgal believe in that kind of a bonding. Also, Mumbai is extremely fast-paced.

Bollywood heroines are perceived as bold, while Tollywood actresses are meant to be Miss Goody Two-Shoes…
This is what Rituda told me, that we don’t want to look outside. Cinema is about progressing, about accepting. I look at things my way. When people started talking after Chatrak, Rituda stood by me, so did Goutam Ghose and Anjan Dutt. Those who were not there, were not there before as well. I knew I was an outsider. I was trying to make a mark and all my directors stood by me. In Bollywood, I’ve got offers to dance around trees. There, it takes time for a film to happen. I will not think what will happen in Mumbai in January, next year. I’ll rather think about the projects that I have now. As an actor, I don’t want monotony to set in.

You got brickbats for Chatrak, but the film never released in India. Any regrets?
It’s a Vimukti Jayasundara film, which itself makes a lot of sense to me. It was screened at MAMI and several other festivals. It was meant for a certain audience, which has already seen it. Who wouldn’t want her film to release? The only thing I regret about the film is that I couldn’t be in Paris, where the film released in January.

Being an outsider, it must have been difficult making a mark…
It was difficult. I’m not conventional-looking - neither sweet nor cute. But I fit into all roles - bubbly, serious, cute, funny, tomboyish, girlie. I’ve broken the mould every time. No one else did it for me. I started work in television at a time when fresh faces wouldn’t be cast. No one took me in the lead at the first go. I went with the flow and I didn’t know people. For me, word-of-mouth publicity worked. Before doing Kaalbela, I knew Goutamda, but I never had the guts to approach him. I remember he had come to a programme in Nandan, where I had gone to watch a film. I saw him from far but couldn’t muster the courage to walk up to him and ask for work.

How was the beginning?
I had just appeared for my Part II graduation exams, when someone from the unit of a daily soap called up to offer me a role. I was still preparing for my practical exams and didn’t have a mobile phone. My mother, who would teach music at an NGO, was not at home and that time, I sought her advice for everything. I had done theatre, but didn’t have any ambition of pursuing a career in acting. Ma wanted me to act, took me to dance classes and even wanted me to sing. When she returned at 9.30 in the night, I told her. She promptly took me to the sets and I gave my shot at 4 in the morning! Maybe an actress had backed out at the last minute. I went on to do my MA and the unit was extremely supportive. I started doing music videos, telefilms… After Kaalbela released in 2009, I realized that I wanted to be an actress. Films started happening one after another. I started watching world cinema and took interest in films by Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak and Adoor Gopalakrishnan among other greats.

Coming to things personal, aren’t you missing Vikram, who is currently in the Bangla version of Bigg Boss?
If I can’t speak to him, obviously I would be missing him. I am watching Bigg Boss, though not every day. I heard that people have loved his entry in that show, but I missed it. There are friends with whom you speak every day, then suddenly they are not there. You are bound to miss them. But he has gone there for work and I too have a lot on my platter. This is one of the hazards of our profession. You ought to accept it and move on. Vikram is intelligent and hard-working. People told me that he was also good in Ami Aar Aamar Girlfriends…

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