Doing a balancing act between commercial and independent space, Sayani Gupta does not shy away from doing whatever challenging comes her way. It may be a small but crucial role in big budget film such as Jolly LLB 2 where she played a Muslim woman Hina or coming as Shah Rukh Khan’s secretary in Fan . “Balancing is not difficult at all for me. I love working on projects that I believe in and the stories I want to tell. And thankfully, I get offered all kinds of parts in both commercial and indie films,” says Sayani.
She first received critical acclaim for her offbeat role in her debut film Margarita With A Straw where she played the role of Kalki's love interest Khanum, which she considers her finest portrayal. “Khanum was definitely the most nuanced portrayal that I have done so far. Although I wish, I could redo it now. I am more in control of my craft now than I was four years back,” recalls Sayani. On whether representation of sexual minorities is changing in cinema, she thinks there are still stereotypes attached in showing such characters. “I do not think the representation is any better now. ‘Margarita...’ was a one off example of an appropriate representation but, in general, we still have a long way to go,” laments Sayani.
Training helps
Sayani comes from that younger lot of actors who are coming from acting schools and are experimenting with new stories and characters. “Training definitely helps. Be it in a film school or drama school. It gives you tools that you can play with all your life, helps your approach process but what it does the most is, it teaches teaches you discipline, especially theatre. It also gives you the confidence to face the world,” says the alumnus of Film and Television Institute of India.
While acting simultaneously in different formats including short films and digital video on demand, Sayani asserts that although digital gives a platform for playing different characters and exploring something new, there is a lot less pressure involved in it. “The explosion of content on the web is little intimidating. Everyone is making web series now but there is very little quality control. I loved doing the Amazon show Inside Edge but it was a VOD format so things were very well managed. I have also done over 15 short films till now including Leeches , which garnered a huge international response, winning awards in over 35 film festivals and participating in over 50 odd ones. I love the format as it gives scope to a short medium of storytelling. It also can be achieved in less budget and very few days,” reflects Sayani.
The young actor admits that even though time is good for an actor to get recognition, there still exists a star system which does not allow other actors to show their potential. “I sometimes feel that it (star system) comes in the way of making good films and good writing in order to accommodate stars. The star system has always existed in the Hindi film industry and it will always be there. But it is also important in order to sustain the livelihood of so many families who work in the industry and are daily wage labours. It is a symbiotic equilibrium that has existed before I was born. And will always prevail,” says the actor. Despite this, she prefers to be optimistic and see the brighter side in the industry's working pattern. “It is still difficult to breakthrough the monopoly of some groups but it is also a positive time for actors, writers and directors who are new and talented. Varied kinds of films are being made and funded. It will take time but might happen in years to come,” hopes Sayani.
Talking about her upcoming film The Hungry , an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s tragedy, “Titus Andronicus”, Sayani says even after 400 years of his death, the Bard’s stories still have a realistic take and this is what attracted her to be a part of the film. The film set in Delhi and is directed by debutant filmmaker Bornila Chatterjee, an alumnus of New York’s Tisch School of Arts and has an impressive ensemble including Naseeruddin Shah and Tisca Chopra.
