Culture & Living
“Stand-up is a craft. You have to learn the syntax, grammar and beats. And I did stand up! I got Netflix to organise two performances for me,” says Swara Bhasker on preparing for her latest web series, Bhaag Beanie Bhaag
Her Twitter bio describes her as the person who “introduced the vibrator to the Indian silver screen”. Swara Bhasker is referring to Veere Di Wedding in which her character Sakshi’s husband cries divorce when he walks in on her pleasuring herself. The Nil Battey Sannata, Raanjhana and Anaarkali of Aarah actor is equally well known for her strong opinions and is that rare Bollywood star who unflinchingly airs her political views.
After spending the bulk of the last few months socially distancing in her home in Delhi, Bhasker is excited about her latest Netflix web series, Bhaag Beanie Bhaag in which she plays a woman who decides to breakout of her family’s middle class expectations to explore a dream of becoming a stand-up comic. This is the third series featuring the 32 year old to release in 2020, following Rasbhari, in which she played a small-town seductress, and Flesh, in which she played a cop. In a phone interview Bhasker shares details about how she prepared for the role of Beanie Bhatnagar and her future plans.
It’s the story of a young woman who, like a lot of young women, is especially close to her family. She’s the quintessential good girl. She’s the only child of protective middle class parents and she’s spent her whole life saying yes—yes to her mother, her father and her boyfriend. It’s not unusual because the values in our culture teach her to obey. She’s an educated, smart girl with her own dreams and desires. And one day she decides to say no to everyone else's expectations, and yes to her own desires. That’s when all hell breaks loose. It’s a fun story of self-discovery and comedy is the setting for it. I would say it is very much in the Queen space, which had such a lovely message of self-expression and women’s desire to have some freedom without it becoming a banner-waving protest.
That’s an interesting question. Maybe it’s the modern way for the monologue to come in as a narrative device which can fit within the plot. Also the stand-up comedy scene is exploding in India and it’s so ripe with such hugely popular talents.
I would say that modern content is based on a screenplay. When you see a cop action drama do you think this is like the previous cop action drama, which is like the previous cop action drama... If we do not have that thought in our heads when we watch male-centric films with similar premises why should we have that thought when it is female-forward content? We are used to watching men more and seeing so many women-led stories is new for us, hence we are comparing. Every love story that ends in tragedy is like every other love story that ends in a tragedy. It goes back to Romeo and Juliet or Laila-Majnu or Heer-Ranjha. I haven’t seen Mrs. Maisel, but it's such a successful, award-winning show, that I take the comparison as a compliment.
I went to open mic nights—quietly and anonymously. I sat at the back and observed. I spoke to a lot of comics. Sumukhi Suresh and Sumaira Shaikh were on set and helped with the writing. Anubhav Bassi was a big help. I spoke a lot to my co-star Varun Thakur and also to Kumar Varun and Kunal Kamra, among others. I would joke with them that they are my tutors. Stand-up is a craft. You have to learn the syntax, grammar and beats. And I did stand up! I got Netflix to organise two performances for me. I wrote the material myself and did one live set in Delhi and another in Mumbai.
The creators, Ravi Patel and Neel Shah, are Indian Americans and they wanted to set the show in India. Ravi (who also features in the series) was familiar with the Indian stand up scene and he was really excited about its growth in India. I actually came on board last. I think a lot of comics did audition for this role. But Bhaag Beanie Bhaag isn’t a show about how to do comedy. Ultimately it’s about a girl's journey. There are a few comedy sets, but the rest of the story requires an actor.
I am so grateful to have had three releases in a pandemic year. But I missed being on a set so hard that I want to be busy shooting the whole of the next year. I have two films starting soon. I want to grow professionally, both in terms of the roles I choose and the role I play. I have written a script and I look forward to my professional growth as a writer and a producer. I have two films lined up for release—(LGBTQ+ romance) Sheer Qorma and Aapke Kamre Mein Koi Rehta Hai (horror-comedy). I am also writing a cool and fun biopic about a con-woman, which will be made under my own production house.
Swara Bhasker picked a colour-blocked orange sari for a lockdown mehandi at home