Divya Dutta: I walk out of films where the director leaves the acting process to me

Divya Dutta has carved a niche for herself with noteworthy performances in films such as Delhi-6 (2009), Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013), Badlapur (2015), and the recent Irrfan Khan and Kirti Kulhari-starrer Blackmail. The actor will receive the National Film Award in the Best Supporting Actor (Female) category for Iraada (2017) tomorrow in New Delhi. Being known as a powerful performer is definitely pleasing, but Dutta feels that some directors don’t exactly know what to do with the ‘talent’ they get on board.

“There are two kinds of directors,” she says, “One, who set examples, and the other, who follow them. I choose to work with directors who see me differently, present me differently, and tell what they want out of me. I want that they treat me like a newcomer, and say ,‘Unlearn what you have done’.”

And a perfect example of that, she shares, was filming for her 2016 film, Ramsingh Charlie. “When I was cast for the film by the director, he said I don’t need any makeup on you. What I understood was [that] I just had to cover my under-eye. I went up to him with my dark circles and all covered. He said he didn’t even want that. That put me in a spot, as I had never done this before,” Dutta recalls.

The actor shares that even the acting process she had to undertake for the film, directed by Nitin Kakkar, who also made the 2013 National Award-winning Filmistaan, was starkly different. “The director added, ‘I know you are damn good at smiling and crying, but keep them. I want you to keep a straight face throughout the film.’ I was a nervous wreck, as I had to unlearn whatever we had been trained in,” the 40-year-old reveals.

Always on the lookout for new experiences such as these, a miffed Dutta shares that owing to her body of work and ‘powerful actor image’, she is cast in a film, told to do whatever she feels works for a scene, but without any support from the makers.

“I don’t feel motivated by directors who tell me, ‘Aap kar lo’. Phir aap kya bata rahe ho mujhe? Main aise logon ke saath kaam nahin karti. I have even walked out of such films. You have to save yourself while drowning. I’d rather want someone to tell me which strokes to play,” she signs off.

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