"I think comic villains are very difficult roles to play.” Actor Mita Vasisht opened up about her journey from daily soaps to her film The Shameless which is competing for the category Un Certain Regard at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in an exclusive interview with Brut.
Brut is the official media partner for Cannes Film Festival 2024. #Cannes2024
Brut is the official media partner for Cannes Film Festival 2024. #Cannes2024
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Short filmTranscript
00:00I had this attitude that, you know, daily soap is rubbish, it's a piece of s**t.
00:04And then I decided, okay, if it's a piece of s**t and I'm playing in it,
00:06I'm going to be the best s**t there is.
00:08If you want to emulate Khan, it's not about seafront and beaches and the red carpet.
00:13It's about this respect, regard, and maybe that's why they have a section called Uncertain Regard.
00:23Audiences in general discuss a lot about,
00:27you know, media and everyone not promoting art cinema.
00:30But do you think they also play an important role?
00:34They also have a responsibility in promoting these films?
00:37You know, the reason why art cinema is not promoted enough is something that is,
00:42I'll tell you, it's a bit of a sidetrack.
00:44And most people don't pay attention to that.
00:46We build a lot of religious places.
00:48In every town, you will find 20 of them.
00:50How many cinemas do you have in every town?
00:52Small cinemas, where a film does not have to go through the whole routine of
00:57a massive multiplex complex, where an ordinary person can feel comfortable going,
01:04spend not so much money that they spend when they have to go to a multiplex as a family to watch a film.
01:09So we build a lot of things that sustain our spirit.
01:13So we build our temples, our churches, our mosques.
01:16Endlessly, we'll give money.
01:17But nobody gives that kind of money to make nice, small, economic cinema halls.
01:24The big films can release in the big hall.
01:26That's fine.
01:27It's good.
01:28But if you have five multiplexes, you should have at least 15 smaller theaters
01:36so that every kind of cinema can be seen there.
01:39And it becomes a personal experience.
01:40A person buys a ticket for really much less, just goes in and sits
01:45and has some local tea, which is provided by the local vendors.
01:49And that they can do regularly enough.
01:52Then that becomes a space for cinema.
01:54So do you feel like international arenas like Cannes, for example,
01:57you have so many, like hundreds and thousands of people coming here to make these kind of films.
02:02Do you think that is something that's lacking in India right now?
02:06Well, I think Cannes has over many, many decades
02:09made and probably justifiably so made itself a reputation of a place of quality
02:17and of inclusiveness.
02:19Like this year, we have seven films that are,
02:23Shameless has got an international producers and also now an Indian producer.
02:27Yes.
02:27But we have seven Hindi films, Indian films from India.
02:32And that is so great.
02:34And Payal Kapadia's film is in competition with the biggies of Hollywood.
02:38You know, and I think that is the greatness about Cannes, you know.
02:42And if you want to emulate Cannes, it's not about
02:45seafront and beaches and the red carpet.
02:49It's about this respect, regard.
02:53And maybe that's why they have a section called Uncertain Regard.
02:56So it's about this respect and this regard and this, how should I say,
03:01devotion to creating great, to allowing great cinemas to be
03:07showcased and therefore to be created.
03:10Lead role or strong supporting character?
03:13Ideally, lead role.
03:15I'll tell you why.
03:17I've understood.
03:19Whenever I've played the lead roles in films or in television or wherever,
03:25it's almost like the lead role in some strange way determines the way
03:30the actor or the actress playing the lead role.
03:33It almost determines how the whole community is in many ways, you know.
03:38So if you play a star who has a lot of attitude and I'm the lead role,
03:43it percolates down.
03:44So I like being in control of the atmosphere on sets that's created.
03:49And I find when I'm in the lead role, there's a certain sense of joy
03:54that is there, you know.
03:57If you're in a strong supportive role,
03:59very often if you're a very strong actress like I am,
04:02first of all, sometimes especially the main, they get threatened, the mainstream stars.
04:07And directors also protect their mainstream stars, the main leads.
04:11And they say, oh my God, she's getting too strong.
04:13It's a supporting role, but she's so strong,
04:16she's going to overshadow this lead role of mine.
04:19So then they start making these cuts and snips and,
04:22you know, little tweaking here and there.
04:24Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki versus Siddheshwari Devi.
04:29Yes, which character?
04:31This is a tough one because I think as an actress,
04:35while Siddheshwari is definitely my favorite,
04:39and I think one of my most difficult to master performances,
04:43it was also one of my earliest performances.
04:45So there was a freshness to it, which I'm not sure I can even attain.
04:51Or achieve now, I feel that.
04:54So definitely Siddheshwari for all the right reasons.
04:57But I also have to, now it's a strange thing because,
05:00it's because of Mani Kaul, my director of Siddheshwari,
05:02that when I was having qualms about being in Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki and not sure,
05:08he said, you know, if you change the way you treat your performance,
05:12everything around you will change.
05:14And that's exactly what happened.
05:16So I had this attitude that, you know, daily soap is rubbish.
05:19It's a piece of sh**.
05:20And then I decided, okay, if it's a piece of sh** and I'm playing in it,
05:23I'm going to be the best sh** there is.
05:24And the day I decided that,
05:26that's the day Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki ratings went and left the other serials behind.
05:30Suddenly my character became this hugely popular character
05:33where people would actually say, you know,
05:35we quickly eat our dinner just because the minute we hear that
05:38she's on in this episode, my character.
05:41And as Mani had said, my attitude towards the role as an actress,
05:48actually shaped everybody's attitude after that, including the producer.
05:53I told Ekta Kapoor, well, if you want me to play this character in a certain way,
05:56you have to open the frame.
05:58You can't do this frame.
05:59You know, she was used to just casting actors in this
06:01because it was easy to cast a non-actor and just play with this much.
06:06So that was the incredible thing.
06:08With Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki, I realized that if you are given a role
06:13and you go all out to perform it with your full sensibility and talent,
06:20then even that gets elevated to another level.
06:24So I think my character in Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki,
06:26one of the finest comic villains, almost like out of a comic strip.
06:31I think comic villains are very difficult roles to play,
06:34especially comic, you know, the comic element in it.
06:37Because it was so bizarre, this character,
06:38pushing a wheelchair down a flight of stairs, you know,
06:41you can't do it seriously.
06:42You have to do it in this like this mad, wicked witch style,
06:46which is also to be real.
06:48So I would enjoy it with a flourish.
06:50And I would also make fun of my own character.
06:53Like I would show her idiosyncrasies, her weaknesses.
06:57If she has a fall, you know, she's like not superwoman.
07:00She's like, oh, so, you know, all that.