![]() Is Bollywood entering the territory of independent films? They are telling amazing stories which have a very wide range. There have been a couple of films that are breaking those boundaries and I think new things will happen and cinema is really coming out in amazing ways. ![]() It is still slightly type cast at the moment. It has to be either feel good film or it has to be something about the under belly with some amount of action and violence. Even within independent cinema there is a kind of populist independent cinema. I have done films in 10 different languages, but I think the space for independent cinemas is shrinking. I am much more in independent film and many of my movies are in other languages that most people don’t get to see. I don’t really have straddled both I think. Do you think the space for independent cinema has increased in India lately? You are one of the very few actors who have straddled both, popular and independent cinema. We will realize that the story in its essence is universal and if we are truly local we can be global too. We should just make honest films that are contextual and from where we come. I think while making films we shouldn’t worry about audience and crossing over. Of course there has been other films in the past, whether it is Deepa Metha’s or Mira Nair’s there have been some films that have crossed over. Whereever I have traveled, people have talked about it after seeing it. A film like ‘Lunch Box’ truly has crossed over. At least it is making inroads also our independent cinema is finding its feet outside India, I think. They see it more like a Broadway show with the song and dance in it because it is something new for them, but I have to admit that mainstream cinema is not taken seriously now, it’s taken in a certain different way and that is good too. But there is a kind of interest even with the foreign audience. ![]() Of course, it was always popular with the diaspora. ![]() How do you find the popularity of Indian movies in the United Sates?īollywood has definitely become popular overseas. It may have a range, degrees may vary but it is something that resonates with everybody. When I say universal it won’t only mean Indian diaspora, there were others who were westerners, Americans who also said that this could have well been a story set in white America or whatever color you may say. So life is universal, this is what something that came out very clearly. I think the issues of inequality between men and women, between couples, the struggles we all have to our conditioning through the way we have been brought up, through the way we negotiate etc. We have done a few Cineplay shows in India and the reactions have been very good. Mostly we have done live shows of this play ‘Between the Lines’ in India. How was the diaspora’s response to cineplay? I was at New Haven and just took a train (to Washington). And also I am doing a fellowship in Yale for four months. That was one reason and secondly like I said because it’s a start up initiative I am always supportive of initiatives in their beginning because that’s when they really need support the most. So I was curious to know how the diaspora would react to it, and with the very encouraging response I think these things are universal, so I shouldn’t be surprised. We just had a couple of screenings in India. We haven’t shown it in the West as of yet. It’s not film it’s not theater, it’s a new thing. The primary reason was that Cineplay is a new experiment, a new genre that we are exploring where we cinematically capture theater. What made you come to the DC South Asian Film festival? Global India Newswire caught up with the actress for an exclusive interview. She has been awarded the Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Government of France, and was the first Indian to be inducted into their International Women’s Forum’s hall of fame for her contributions to the arts. She made her directorial debut with Firaaq (2008), which has won a number of national and international awards. WASHINGTON, DC: Popular Indian actress, filmmaker and innovator Nandita Das was in town recently, to attend the DC South Asian film Festival.ĭas, 48, the daughter of noted Indian artist Jatin Das, has got critical acclaim for her performances in Fire (1996), Earth (1998), Bawandar (2000), Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), Azhagi and Before The Rains (2007). Exclusive interview with actress, filmmaker in Washington. ![]()
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