With 'Baatein Ankahin', which premiered last Saturday, UTV Stars tries to decode the body language of Bollywood actors. Three experts, theatre-personality Mujeeb Khan, image consultant Samta Gala and clinical psychologist Supriya Nair observes clips of actors at various events and analyse if the person meant what he/she was saying, and so on. We caught up with the Mumbai-based psychologist Nair, who shared anecdotes from the show:
Sarcasm and other cues
“I study the clips (given by UTV) for two days, where I see the context on which the stars are appearing. Bollywood is a very guarded, impression managed world. The actors plan what they will be saying. I have to analyse their emotional state and make an assessment using psychology,” she starts. In the profession for 18 years, she easily recalls one of the clips featuring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif which she had interpreted, “Khan has some kind of discomfort with Katrina, which he revealed with his sarcasm. Normally his body language doesn’t require a psychologist to analyse. But it is interesting to see how Kaif is submissive about it. She tries to move her face away from the camera, a strong indicator that she is embarassed and unable to handle the sarcasm. To cover it up, she laughs awkwardly. if you watch the unedited clip, you will see she hardly speaks a sentence. Her entire energy is gone in defending herself.”
Catching them unawares
While interpreting these actors’ body language, the founder of Ascend Psychology was surprised with Kareena Kapoor’s. “Frankly speaking, the kind of confident performer and actor she is, I was surprised by her subdued, submissive and “housewife” nature in front of Saif Ali Khan. It’s clear that he is more dominant in the relationship. In fact, she is very conscious about her English in front of him - his language is very polished,” shares Nair, who also gives suggestions to the creative team. “I suggested they catch the actors unaware on camera, to catch them at work to see how actors like Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan deal with stress,” she offers. And whose body language was hardest to decode? “Aamir Khan!” she answers instantly. “I had to struggle a lot with his clip. His body language was the most difficult as he is very guarded. He has an understanding of what he wants to communicate,” says Nair, who counts the Mentalist and Lie to Me as her favourite shows.
'Baatein Ankahin' airs every Saturday on UTV Stars at 8 pm