With a career spanning forty years after being educated at NSD, Sushmita has seen cinema from single screen to multiplex to OTT. Her passion has driven her through four decades. “Every child has to go through the journey of finding what you love to do and fight for it.” she says. And she humbly owns her childlike qualities. “I am like that, what to do!” she beamed in The IWI Talk on Saturday 27 March with Anupama Jain, Head of Content and Collaborations, Team IWI. Here is an excerpt (you can see the video here)

What does an interesting day at work look like?

An interesting day at work is when your team bonds together. Change is the only constant. Take the next step forward, don’t be afraid of change and movement. I say this because the definition of a good day at work has changed over the years. I appreciate the simple things a lot more now. Some good scenes, a meal with colleagues, chaat, returning home tired, it can be anything.

What kind of research do you do when you venture into a new role or a book?

“I am a free hand person, a typist / downloader! I don’t use the prefrontal cortex. I just open some doors and the energy to do what I need to comes. I just do my homework. I am not one of those to do a lot of research. I didn’t open a laptop until a few days ago!” Each experience is a gift, we can’t run away from it!

About Writers and artists in a commoditized world

I vacillate between hiding in my shell and showing myself to the world. Earlier, media people would wait for actors. Today, artists have to ask media to write about them. There was no digital media earlier. So play your role in the digital world with detachment. I don’t want to make it a part of my internal world.

What does feminism mean to you?

The definition has changed over the years. We were generation after Protima Bedi. There were so many feminists and suffragists when I was brought up. I was a little leftist. With time, the ‘Sanatan’ part of me came out, the role of a creator. I felt complete in my own self. I now look at ourselves as souls.

What would you prefer to be – author, playwright or actor?

All of them! I love to watch life! I never ran after fame. If it comes to me, I want to be known genuinely for what I am.

Your mantra for continuous success across decades

My feeling of success comes from my family life. It makes me stable and happy and I feel cozy to work in the world. It helps me be who I am.

Tell us something about Baanjh

I have been a closet writer for many years because I didn’t want my acting career to end. When my first novel was published in 2018, I met this young and sweet person who introduced himself as Dipankar Mukherjee. During lockdown, I was writing a crime thriller and Baanjh is a collection of short stories I have been writing over 40 years. In a matter of few months, the book was out. Indrani Ganguly did a great job too. Dipankar is a fabulous publisher. He has such an eclectic and wide range and is doing great work! It is no mean task to stand among such great publishers.

Why did you name it Baanjh?

Baanjh is one of eleven stories appearing in the book.

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

Each one of us is an artist and we express it in different ways. Great art comes from feeling! Art is something which touches another person. It is not this big thing we talk about. It is about touching somebody’s heart and soul. Through the day, we are creating art.

About Self-love

We have always been taught we are not good enough. Our whole life is spent thinking,” If we do something like them, we will be accepted!” Reprogramming your mind has to be done seriously to overcome this. There are lots of tools and technologies and methods like healing and meditation to do this. We have to reaffirm to ourselves that we are love. Self love is the most important thing! Surprisingly, her work does not feature in the best decisions of her life. “Motherhood, marriage”, she says, “are decisions I consciously made and these are among my best decisions!”

As Deepti Menon aptly quoted, ” There is poetry in Sushmita’s words!”

Written by

Nithya Rajagopal

Manager, IWI