My play is a tribute to strong women!

Says Tanishaa Mukerji as she talks about her acting debut today with The Verdict.After production, a Marathi film, and then theatre for the first time. So many firsts… What brought about all of it?
Yeah, this year seems to be special for me. I wasn’t getting the kind of roles I wanted in Bollywood or rather maybe I wasn’t reaching out to the kind of films that I wanted to do. I don’t know if it was my fault or not but I was not doing the kind of work that was exciting me. So I decided to take a step back and re-evaluate what I want to do. When production came my way, I was actually worried thinking, ‘I’m an actress, how can I do production’ and about how people have this mentality that if you are getting into production your career in Bollywood as an actress is over or must be over.

A lot of people tried to talk me out. But I have to say that Farhan Akhtar is very inspiring – he’s a director, he’s an actor, producer and singer… He’s put on a lot of hats and I realised that you can’t limit yourself to be only one thing. And that’s when I decided to do production. Also you know how they say, if once you make up your mind to do something, the universe conspires to make it happen for you, so then there was theatre that came my way. The Marathi movie too came my way a while back and I remember my mother always telling me how our family has always done Marathi films so I thought it will be a nice present for my maa. So I took it on from there.

But theatre is like a completely new experience for you?
Yes, totally and now I know why people say that theatre actors make such good actors on screen too. It’s like that line that practice makes you perfect. In Bollywood, I feel that acting is somewhat taken for granted, like there is no riyaaz like singers do. That mentality hasn’t reached us yet that we have to practice to become perfect. Everybody thinks that we are actors and the nuances will just come to us. If you try or ask to do a rehearsal, they look at you like you are mad or they look down upon you because it’s like ‘oh my god, why is she doing rehearsals. She must not know what she is doing,’ that’s the attitude for some reason in Bollywood.

That’s changing now don’t you think with workshops and all happening?
That is because there are so many theatre actors who are doing well here (laughs).

Today is your first show of The Verdict. How are you prepping yourself for it?
I’m not thinking about it, that’s how. I feel if I think about it too much then I’ll go mad, like I won’t be able to do it. I think the key is to think about it like any other rehearsal we have been doing regularly.

The play is really intense…
Yes, it’s a courtroom drama and I am the accused. It’s interesting, very intense. My character is very strong.

…And has shades of grey too?
Yes. She is 50 shades of grey actually like my director (Divya Palat) keeps saying, she’s like my 50 shades of grey, and I’m like ‘no, I’m not that much, I’m not that grey’.

So how many shades are you really?
The character I am playing is a girl who will do anything for love. And I think we have all been there sometime in our lives — when we have done anything for love. Whether you want love or give love… Done something for the person they love, so much that sometimes you have gone against your own personal character to do it just because you loved somebody. I’m sure you have done it, I know I have definitely done it. I reflect on things later, ‘what was I thinking’ but yes those moments have happened.

What’s the thrill of doing theatre?
Theatre is such an actor’s medium. It just allows you to push yourself and it sounds silly but I was so nervous about it thinking like what if I’m really bad, so you know what my director said, ‘But you can always fix it the next time’. And you don’t get that luxury with a film. What’s done is done. Here every performance is different. You can keep getting better. I think as I get better, I will start enjoying it more. I will start on doing more challenging ones. This one was simpler because I am just sitting in one place. Yes holding the audience’s attention while sitting in one place is also not easy but please don’t make me nervous. I haven’t come that far (laughs).

Does the play being staged around Independence Day make it more significant?
Yes it does. We are very strong women in our family who have always exercised our freedom of choice. We have never allowed our identity or personality to be pushed aside.
This play is also about strong women. My character is a strong personality who has fought for everything she has got in life, is super ambitious, is a little bit of everything. My play is a tribute to strong women. I hate the attitude that women can only be good. If we are not bad at times then we have no personality, as I believe that there is good and bad in all of us. At the end of the day there is only only person you can please and it’s yourself.

Is facing a live audience more exciting?
Here the reaction is instant. That’s scary in a way too. Like if you think you are saying a fun line and nobody laughs, it’s very demoralising. So it’s like instant critiquing of your performance. More challenging, so let’s see. It’s my first go at it, so I can’t predict what my reaction is going to be like or that of my audience. So far we have only had the co-actors giving each other constant feedback and I love it. Theatre is like a group sport, everybody is pumping each other to do the best, so everyone is like full of that energy.
And you can take it without thinking that okay she is trying to take my role or cut my scene.