Nandita Das is still smiling after a session at The Actors Studio, New York, on Friday. Actors such as Julianne Moore and Al Pacino are part of this Studio, which works as a support system for actors.
“It’s such a unique model. It helps create a community of committed actors. So many people volunteer their time for this. Sometimes, we don’t take our craft seriously; here, they at times take three years to understand and internalise a script. Their commitment towards the craft overwhelms you,” says Nandita, who is in Yale for a four-month World Fellows Program. “In our country, economics interferes so much with the creative process; here I saw people wedded to the creative process, more than the outcome,” she shares in a telephonic interview.
At Yale, Nandita’s course mates are a robotics engineer, a Syrian peace activist, a 2012 candidate for President of Iceland, and Parmesh Shahani, head, Godrej India Culture Lab. It is evident Nandita is enjoying her brush with academics and she says that Yale has been stimulating. “I’ve come out of my comfort zone. Learning along with and from my co-fellows has widened my horizons. We are exposed to the best professionals, and the scope of what we learn is immense — from emotional intelligence and law to public health, design and architecture.”
Nandita has never been a full-time actor; she’s worked in advocacy, headed the Children’s Film Society… “That’s a part of my personality,” she laughs. “I love the fact that I am in a university that allows a student to take courses that incorporate critical thinking, music, biology and philosophy. I’m now looking at academics very differently.”
These four months are very special because Nandita got a chance to spend quality time with her son Vihaan. “I am normally around him even back in India, but this is more intimate; there is no house-help. It is a different kind of bonding,” she says, even as she makes a stop to pick up her son and take him for lunch. “I’m glad Vihaan got this chance. I think being exposed to different realities makes for great learning.”
Nandita has also travelled to Boston, Harvard and MIT to speak about her work. Her play with husband Subodh Maskara, Between The Lines, was screened as a CinePlay at Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI), New York. It is about a lawyer couple who are on the opposite sides of a criminal case. “Many academicians want to use the play in class,” she says. She also interacted with the audience, about the issues that triggered the play. The couple is now looking at different ways of using CinePlay. “It is still a nascent concept and has immense possibilities. It can be used in organisations, in educational institutes to trigger conversations…it can take on a life of its own.”
The Kannathil Muthamittal actor has another month at Yale, and she will return to work on her next directorial, a period film. “I’m co-writing it along with someone in New York and will formally announce it once I am back,” she says. Then, there’s the Australia film project that she is writing, and possible acting assignments, “if something interesting comes my way”.