Some actors don’t like to shout from the rooftops or rope in PR machinery to prove their mettle. Supriya Pathak is one of them. Over the years, she has quietly transformed from the elegant Shabnam in “Bazaar” to the hilarious Hansa in “Khichdi” and from the quiet Sarita in “Wake Up Sid!” to the egoistic Dhankor Baa in “Ram Leela” – all women of substance, all completely different from each other. “I got an opportunity to play all kinds of women – that has been the satisfying aspect of my career. As an actor, I get into the mind space of many women and I don’t have to take many births for that,” says Supriya.
These days, she is impressing as Sehar in Pankaj Kapur’s play “Dreamz Sehar”, where the talented husband-wife duo act together. A story of mysterious relationship between two people, Supriya says the play is challenging as it shows how there is a very thin line between reality and dreams. “This is a very interesting format to play around with. Pankajji wrote it as a string of dreamy sequences. It is difficult to play a character that exists in between being there and not there. There are no defined boundaries to play Sehar as you can play it in a lot of ways,” says Pathak who was in Delhi recently for the performance at the Delhi Theatre Festival.
Instant reaction
Theatre, she says, provides a lot of opportunities to be innovative. “Every show is a new challenge. After every performance, we have a session where we discuss what each of us felt about it. The most charming thing about theatre is that you get an instant reaction from the audience. So even before we meet we know whether we have done a good job or not.”
Even in films, she muses, there is nothing like a perfect shot. “You can always better it. But yes, after one particular shot, the director could turn back to you and say, ok! this was good and the scene is locked for posterity. Here you have an opportunity to improve yourself with every show. And that is great for an artist.”
Almost in awe of Kapur, Supriya says, he is a strict taskmaster. “By now, everybody knows that he is a perfectionist. Working with him requires discipline and that is something I need,” she blushes.
It seems she follows him completely. “No, healthy argument is a very important part of the theatre process. It is very important for me to know what I am doing with the character. Of course, it is the director’s vision that is most important but It is also significant for the actor and director to arrive at a correct point. I have worked with him as an actor as well as a director. He is such an inspiring figure. He gives so much to his colleagues that working with him is an opportunity to better yourself.
As actors, their processes are different. “He is much more methodical and refined. At times, I try to follow him, but I am different. I am spontaneous. He becomes the character; I try becoming one,” analyses Supriya. “But both of us still panic before the first performance of any play. Our daughter Sana tries to cool us down, but years don’t matter, a new play is a new play,” says Supriya with child-like simplicity.
Launched by Shyam Benegal in “Kalyug”, Supriya admits that she wasn’t ambitious as a film actor. “I just enjoy acting. I will go wherever my director would take me. I don’t distinguish between mediums either. But to my mind, after meeting Pankaji, I have evolved as an actor. I have seen him work on himself. That has given me a lot of inspiration. My ambition is to enjoy myself and work on my acting.”
Her mother Dina Pathak was a doyenne of theatre and her sister Ratna (Pathak Shah) is also a force to reckon with on stage. So, it sounds strange that Supriya took the time to find herself. “Though my mother gave me the first break, I didn’t want to become an actor. I wanted to dance. Trained in Bharatanatyam, I wanted to do Ph.D in dance. I was more into the theoretical side of creative arts – that was my ambition at that point in time.” Her mother, however, had different plans for her. “She always believed in pushing yourself. Also, my sister and I are very different actors and we have very different approaches to life. We have come from the same upbringing but it has been imbibed very differently by the two of us.” Two sides of their mother? “I wouldn’t be able to say that,” Supriya pauses for a moment. “My father died when I was young. My mother became a great inspiration,” she tries to put to her decisions into perspective.
Empowered women
On the changing face and priorities of Hindi film heroine, Supriya says once upon a time her mother was the face of women empowerment in arts.
“It is more widespread, now. Today, female actors are empowered women. They have reached a level of equality in most of the spaces. We started working towards it. We used to have arguments with our directors and we pushed as much as we could about not doing submissive characters. In some sense, it eased out the path of the generation that followed. As actors, the characters we play are perceived as symbols of society. Whether you like it or not, people follow what we do on the screen. Today’s actors have become a little more responsible for that. The definition of the girl next door has changed completely in the last decade,” sums up Supriya.
Between the lines
On Khayyam and memories of “Bazaar”
I have lip-synced some of his best compositions on screen. He has given us an amazing repertoire of songs. The most fabulous part is that all the songs are still fresh. Hopefully, the younger generation will realise its worth too. My favourite is “Dikhayi Diye Yun Ki Bekhud Kiya”. I have a lot of memories of and great moments that we went together while shooting for Bazaar. It was so simply shot by Sagar Sarhadi that somebody would say arre yeh director ne kiya kya. We just sat on a terrace and sang. But it was effective. Without any frills, the way it has been shot, it realises the essence of the whole story. It is like life as it is.
On audience for theatre
I am not sure but there is definitely an audience, people who enjoy going to the theatre. It is not just about traditional spaces such as NCPA and Kamani, younger audience travel to new spaces to watch theatre. It is no longer about only certain genres finding an audience, The young audience just want to watch theatre, irrespective of labels like serious, commercial or experimental. Among metros, I find Delhi audience fantastic. Perhaps because of the National School of Drama, Delhi's audience is very creative and culturally alive.
