Seema Biswas works at her own pace and often surprises herself and the audience with her choice of characters. Diversity has been the hallmark of her acting career. You have seen her as the rape victim–turned–dacoit in Bandit Queen , strange housemaid in Bhoot , gutsy cop in Ek Hasina Thi , a deaf and mute helpless mother in Khamoshi , enigmatic widow in Water , glum mother in Vivah and the nurse in Midnight’s Children . As for theatre, she is constantly experimenting with roles, the latest being theatrical adaptations of two short stories by Rabindranath Tagore. The acclaimed actress was in the city to shoot for Australian filmmaker Paul Cox’s Force of Destiny .
“I met Paul in Chicago as part of a panel discussion. He told me about the role in Force of Destiny and stressed that it is a small role. But then he also told me that ‘in my film each character is different’. When I read the script, I was so inspired that I wanted to be part of it. I play Shahana Goswami’s aunt in the movie,” says Seema. So, what kind of roles enthuse her? “Good cinema. There is nothing like art cinema and mainstream cinema,” she stresses.
And there are some offers she finds it difficult to refuse. Like the mother in the sweet and syrupy Vivah , from Rajshree Productions. “Even I am surprised how I did that role. Actually, I was not comfortable initially. Besides, I had an accident and my left arm had a fracture. So, I went to meet Sooraj [Barjatya, director of Vivah ] with the plaster and told him that I won’t be able to do the movie. I want to return him the signing amount as well. When I met him, he made me eat some food and went on talking. Before I could refuse the movie, he said, ‘I am not going to shoot without you’,” says Seema with a laugh.
But the problem was that similar roles started coming her way. “It is easy to get typecast and I’ve never allowed myself to fall into that. If I have to repeat myself, then it would rather do theatre,” she says.
An alumnus of National School of Drama, Seema is currently staging her two plays, Wife’s Letter and Dead or Alive , based on Tagore’s short stories, across the country. The former is directed by Seema herself and the latter, a monologue, is directed by Anuradha Kapur. So, is she for film-making? “It is a big job, and I don’t think I am yet ready for it.” She has also been part of cast of Death of a Salesman .
Meanwhile she is still waiting to bring Lady Macbeth on stage. “It has been my dream to play Lady Macbeth. The script is there, but I haven’t got the right team to bring it on stage,” she says.
Seema, who holds the Malayalam film industry in high regard, after having worked in movies such as Shantham and Balyakalasakhi , feels that its high time Indian cinema looked beyond Hollywood. “We often mix up between Hollywood and foreign cinema. They are two different entities. Foreign cinema is interesting and inspiring, which is not the case with most Hollywood films,” she says.
So, what’s her take on current Hindi movies? “Actually, I don’t get to watch all movies. It might sound strange, but I liked Barfi a lot…,” she says with a hearty smile, and adds: “I liked Ghajini also..” Well, didn’t we say, she loves to throw in surprises?
