There’s a lot that inspires Tillotama Shome. An avid gardener by hobby, the petite actor shares her sense of awe about how, in nature, there can emerge a profusion of life from practically nothing.
“I get a lot from it,” says the soft-spoken, media-shy actor, who recently won the Best Actress award at for her performance in Rohena Gera’s film Sir at the Brussels International Film Festival.
The Kolkata-born Shome made her debut in Bollywood in 2001 as Alice, in Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding. She went on to act in Qissa – The Tale of a Lonely Ghost, Tasher Desh, Hindi Medium, A Death in the Gunj, and Kadvi Hawa. Now, she will be seen as one of the protagonists in veteran filmmaker Goutam Ghose’s release, Raahgir. We caught up with Shome, who’s busy shooting for a couple of movies and the web series Mentalhood.
Raahgir debuted at the Busan Film Festival this year. How was it?
I was happy that Raahgir had its world premiere at a festival like Busan. It’s a joy to see your films travel to places that you haven't been to.
In Raahgir, you essay the character with so much poignancy. Tell us a little about your experience, and how you prepared for the role.
I had to lose weight, and needed dialect training. That, strangely, was easier to do than come to terms with the abject poverty of the character I had to play. In the middle of a shot at a bus stop, where Lakhua and Nathuni take some much-needed rest, I was overwhelmed by how little they had. I told Goutam, I am not going to play a poor person for some time, as I became aware of my immense privilege. This had never come up in the last 20 years.
How it was to work with a stalwart like Goutam Ghose?
He’s like a child who jumps with joy when he’s happy. There was tremendous warmth on that set. He is full of stories and adventures.
Your acting career started with theatre, and you also worked with prison inmates in the US...
The experience of teaching at Rikers taught us many things, but predominantly a few things became clear. First, the line between sanity and insanity, guilty and not guilty is very slippery. Second, the prison system and culture of medication in America was a different level of sophisticated slavery. Third, I was just plain lucky to have the privilege I did.
What films are you working on with Madhuja Mukherjee, Anup Singh and Rima Das?
All three films have women protagonists and in a way, explore a world of deep longing and desire.
You will also be seen in the web series, Mentalhood?
I am playing a mother who craves to fit in with the ‘cool’ mothers. What she is lacking in ‘class’ she makes up with heart.
Fashion, fitness and diet
■ My choices are dictated by comfort. I like wearing fabrics that breathe. I wear what I like.
■ Swimming or functional training. I learnt to swim only a few years ago, so I am addicted to it. I love the feeling of noise cancellation underwater.
■ I don’t really follow a diet. I have amla (gooseberry) juice in the morning but eat three hearty home-cooked meals. Rice is a staple. I know what I am craving for and make sure that I can get it at home.
■ Comfort food: My mother’s cooking.
■ Apart from gardening, I love reading. Currently, I’m reading The Promise of India by Jaimini Bhagwati.