Lasyapriya Sundaram (BOMBAY TIMES; January 3, 2018)

After winning the Miss India Earth title in 2013, Sobhita Dhulipala became a successful model. Eventually, she made her inroads into cinema not with a big-budget mainstream Hindi film, but with Anurag Kashyap’s dark and gritty, Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016). With her second Hindi film, Kaalakaandi, all set to hit screens in a few days, Sobhita talks about why she thinks the ‘Hindi film industry is a circus’ and how she doesn’t want to play anyone’s ‘dream girl’ on screen. Excerpts...

Your first Hindi film was Anurag Kashyap’s hard-hitting psychological thriller, Raman Raghav 2.0. And, now you will feature in the black comedy, Kaalakaandi. These are not typical Bollywood fare...
If I choose to be part of stupid films, I don’t deserve to call myself an actress. While several actors and filmmakers criticize commercial Hindi films, how many are willing to change it? How many are willing to be part of a film that’s credible and not one that will boost their brand and give them popularity? As a person, I am not obsessed with fame, money and power, and that has set me free. I am not bound by my ambition. On the contrary, I am empowered by it. Also, why would I want to play a game that I wouldn’t want to win? I am not interested in being anyone’s dream girl on screen.

You were a successful model before entering films. Were you always passionate about acting, or was it a natural progression from modelling?
I didn’t grow up watching films as I was more academically inclined. Before starring in Raman Raghav 2.0, I must have watched only 20-odd movies out of which eight were part of the Harry Potter series. I like reading and writing and I am a trained classical dancer. After modelling for a year-and-a-half, I thought that I should give cinema a shot as I fancied it. I was curious to know what it felt like to play someone else. However, I don’t think I am as passionate about acting as I am about writing. When I write, I am not doing it for an audience but because I feel those things.

So, is acting just a hobby for you?
Acting is far too consuming to be called a hobby. I learnt Hindi and then went for countless auditions. I would step out of my house with a bag, which had a set of ethnic wear, corporate attire and smart casuals. The rejections I faced during that time made me angry and fiercely determined. I didn’t get a lot of commercials because I wasn’t the typical bubbly Punjabi girl. Then one day, I was called to Mukesh Chhabra’s office to audition for a film. I was stunned and asked him, ‘Is this (audition) tape going to be watched by a director?’ Within an hour, Anurag Kashyap was in the office. He is one of the few directors I respect in the industry. In 48 hours, I was doing my debut film and within the next six months, I found myself at the Cannes film festival. It felt as if I was hallucinating. Working with Anurag and Nawazuddin Siddiqui made me realise that they respect the medium. The choices they made also helped me to set a benchmark for myself. Cannes Film Festival was also an eye-opener. Everyone there — from the filmmakers to the working-class people — who came to watch movies, respected cinema that had the power to influence. It made me realise that every filmmaker has the responsibility to create something worthwhile. I was nominated for my performance at Cannes as part of Critics’ Choice for my supporting role (in Raman Raghav 2.0), but nobody cared about it back home. Our industry is a mela, a circus and we are all circus monkeys. I don’t think we should take ourselves too seriously.

It seems like you don’t want to associate yourself with mainstream Hindi cinema. So, what is the kind of work that interests you?
I want to tell stories that I feel for and I don’t want to be a sell-out. I’d rather do less work than do bad work. Everyone gets replaced and substituted. When I am older, I don’t want to look at my films and not be happy about my choices. I am not a hypocrite and I want to support good films. In our industry, the moment some people get to know that it’s a small-budget or indie film, they doubt if it will sell. That means, such people are self-obsessed and are only worried about their brand. While most Hindi film heroines have to wear a pair of shorts, a tank top, sneakers and blow-dry their hair, the average metropolitan Indian girl wears a pair of jeans with a short kurta. Where does the heroine then stand and who is she reaching out to? Aren’t we making the audience feel inadequate about their own lives? I want to play the roles of a homemaker, a government school teacher or a tailor’s daughter. Every second Hindi film heroine is an art curator. How many art curators do we have? If somebody is an art curator, they are mostly weathered and old from all the art that they have experienced. They don’t wear pencil skirts bro, c’mon! I don’t want to fit in and even if I tried to, I won’t be able to. Also, as a celebrity, if you don’t use your voice, you don’t deserve to be one in the first place. If one experimental film does well, then ten more will get made. If one wants to change the way things are, one has to take risks and be part of different kinds of cinema, despite not knowing how it will be received. That’s what thrills me.

Talking about the industry, the Harvey Weinstein controversy opened a can of worms in Hollywood. Is the casting couch a reality in Bollywood, too?
Of course, it is. There is deceit, conflict and identity crisis. Not knowing how far one should go to get their way... it’s hard. Everybody encounters it.