Navneet Vyasan (HINDUSTAN TIMES; May 27, 2020)

With a career spanning more than two decades, Lillete Dubey has firmly established herself as one of the finest thespians and artistes in the country. And, now, for the first time in her career, like many others, the actor finds herself in a state of pause, and a much needed one, due to the Coronavirus lockdown. “One of the great revelations for me,” she says, “is that all these days, I have been a social dinosaur. I have always believed that your work is your calling card. But at the same time, now, I have also realised the importance of professional and personal need to communicate with people.”

Dubey has utilised this time to pursue a more reflective way of living. “I am not on social media, so I haven’t been venting out my feelings on an individual level,” says the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel actor, adding that a lot of people are doing that, which is fair enough. “I am not making any judgements. But I found that people went two ways — either they went inwards, a little reflective, and loved and enjoyed and valued the time that they got with themselves, or many went outwards, to connect with people. I went the former way, and the only time I went out was for a digital event to support theatre where I was joined by Ira (Dubey; daughter),” concludes the actor.

Although the actor affirms the fact that people will hesitate to get back to the theatres, she also feels that OTT might just be a feasible option for many. “Maybe, we are entering an era were digital is going to become far more important, though I will never believe that we’ll replace theatre and films. They should co-exist. Human interaction is a very important part in being human,” says the Lunchbox (2013) actor.