She enjoys watching Kuch Kuch Hota Hai as much as she loves an offbeat film like Paheli. She has no qualms doing a smaller role in big, mainstream movies and takes pride in playing the lead in smaller, independent films, too. Having proved her mettle in films like Margarita With A Straw, Article 15 and Jolly LLB 2, among others, Sayani Gupta has managed to pave a path of her own. In a freewheeling chat with us, Sayani speaks about her work, the importance of the ‘female gaze’ in films, her time at FTII in Pune, and more. Excerpts:

Sayani has feature films, short films and web series to her credit and she says that working with women directors, writers, and actors is inspiring. She says, “I think the narratives of our shows and films need to change. Aren’t we tired of seeing unrealistic heroes on the screen? Incidentally, I read a quote that said, ‘You don’t see as many fantastic men in real life as you see on screen, and you never see as many fantastic women on screen as you see in real life.’ And that is so true.”

“The constant hetero-normative narrative that has been fed to us through popular cinema, where the unimaginable glorious hero comes to save everyone, is problematic. The women are given the side dish. They are constantly playing the subversions or a subdivision of a narrative which, again, is extremely problematic. So, we as women, must do stuff for ourselves and I think the female gaze in helping change the narrative,” asserts the actress. Sayani urges that it is time to change the way female characters are portrayed.

For Sayani, it’s not the length of the role that matters, but the gravitas that it brings to the table. She says, “I do independent films where I play the protagonist, and, at the same time, play relatively smaller parts in big films, both with equal zest.

However, I do hope to get big parts in big films. As long as you have enough to do and you’re good at it, you must make something out of it. When I say this, I don’t mean you hog the limelight, but do a commendable job and make your presence felt.”

Ask her if she would like to play a real-life character on screen, and Sayani replies, “I wanted to play Shakuntala Devi for the longest time. I never expressed it out loud fearing someone might take the idea. But Anu Menon had already made a film on the math genius with Vidya Balan in the lead. So that’s done now. But I would like to play Maa Sarada Devi in a film someday. I think she was a feminist, visionary, and, in many ways, tutored and helped push human rights, gender movement and the feminist movement.” Sayani adds that she wants people to know her for the work and look at her with dignity.

The actress has shared screen space with Milind Soman in a web series and she fondly describes him as ‘childlike’. Speaking about him, she says, “He is enormously good looking, and it is a little unfair that he looks so stunning without any make-up! You just put him in any frame and his good looks do the magic.”

She further adds, “He is like a child in many ways. When we were shooting, I kept scolding him for not reading his script and not knowing his lines and he would be like, ‘Ab kya ho raha hai?’ We also bonded over our mutual love for travelling, food and sweets. We both are rice eaters and we enjoyed Bengali sweets and all kinds of desserts.”