Film festivals bring with them not only immense joy for cinema lovers but also an opportunity for admirers to meet their idols in person. Recently concluded Jagran film festival held at Siri Fort Auditorium saw a host of big names from Bollywood gracing the event, among which was Swara Bhaskar – the actor known for her groundbreaking performance in ‘Nil Battey Sannata’ and ‘Anaarkali of Aarah’.
I caught up with this down-to-earth and critically acclaimed actor during her visit in the Capital for a chit-chat. Looking dapper in a silver attire, Swara shared her future plans, projects, and how she chooses her films.
When asked about the procedure she follows before choosing a film, Swara said, “It depends on the particular film. There is a different reason to do every film. As for ‘Anaarkali of Aarah’ and ‘Nil Battey Sannata’ obviously the characters were very compelling, they had great scripts, and they were like once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity for an actor. Sometimes there are other reasons; for ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’, I wanted to work with Sooraj sir (director) and Salman, and also because I had never done a film of that skill before. You have to strategize according to your desires at that moment, in terms of your career.”
When asked which of her movies had her best performance, the actor smiled and said, “Anaarkali and Nil Battey are very special to me.” Is Swara planning to venture into international projects like many other B’town actors? No; but she explained, “I don’t have any conscious plans; right now I am very happy to be in India and I think I still have a long way to go here. But like any other actor, I would not decline any good work. So if something comes along, why not? I’m a nativist like that.”
Swara’s fans would be delighted to know about her projects other than ‘Veere Di Wedding’, where they would get to see her onscreen. She has recently completed a comedy film titled ‘Aapke Kamre Mein Koi Rehta Hai’ directed by debutant Gaurav S Sinha, and would start shooting ‘Veere Di Wedding’ from September. Her web series titled ‘It’s not that Simple’ season 2 is also coming up on Voot soon.
The ‘Raanjhanaa’ actor, who loves to read, travel, eat and sleep during her leisure, had a brilliant reply when asked which superhero character would she choose if she could be one. “When we were little, there used to be a cartoon called Captain Planet, and there was a character which could speak any language in the world including the language of all animals – he had the power of heart. I would choose to be like that.” The damsel in silver who described herself as ‘lazy’, ‘a little too frank’, and ‘impulsive’ mentioned that she is not really a superhero fan.
And that's how it's done! 