Mirzapur actor Isha Talwar says artistes should be given medals as survival is ‘really hard’: ‘There’s self-doubt, pressure to make it big’

She finally got her breakthrough success with Mirzapur in 2020 and followed it up with this year’s Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo. Isha is now gearing up for her next, Chamak. The Sony LIV musical thriller is set in Punjab and is gearing to release on December 7.

In an interview with Indianexpress.com, Isha Talwar talks about how she has stopped chasing the constant need to “make it big” as per the worldly standards, the move to reinvent herself and join an acting course and why actors need to be applauded more often for surviving in the industry.

Edited excerpts:

 

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You entered the industry in 2012 with a Malayalam film. What has the decade taught you?

The learning is interesting. I got a lot of exposure because of South cinema. It is a different market, my foundation was set there. Everybody who is in films should be given a medal, because it is hard. The amount of self-doubt an artiste lives with, add to it the pressure… It is self-inflicting pressure though, of wanting to make it big, where there is a set definition of ‘making it’. I have stopped chasing that now.

Where you at some point?

When I came here, of course I was chasing it. When I didn’t get it, it made me think what I was chasing. Now I do it more for the love of it, not so much for ‘I have to be successful’. That unnecessary pressure is off my head, but it is not like I am less ambitious today. Our chips are made for competition, which I don’t like anymore. I don’t want to compete with other people. It is not a race. Acting is a natural form of expression, so everyone will be different. I don’t feel competitive anymore. Yes, I want things for myself. I want to do more. I am greedier with time. I have spent seven months learning acting from Kerala. It has been a re-set for me.

 

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After you broke out with Mirzapur, you still had to wait over a year for work. Have the years in the industry prepared you for its ups and downs?

Yes. Life is unpredictable, you can’t do anything about it. But yes, over a period of time, you make peace with it, the nature of the industry. This understanding comes after many years. You know the industry is unpredictable, but to live through it takes time. It took me some time.

Did it help that your father was from the industry, so you at least knew that this is a gamble?

Yes, but when you are dreamy eyed, you are not thinking about these things. You think how you are going to be the next superstar. I never focused on such things. Eventually when you get five-six slaps from life, you go like, ‘Oh damn, this s**t also happens.’ No one prepares you for it, you just find out.

What are you craving for right now?

Chamak feels like a new beginning of sorts, because usually people play bhabis and bahus later. But for me that came in first and now I am going in this space of younger women. Somewhere that image of being a rooted actor, someone who is doing more UP, Rajasthan roles was clinging to me. If not for anything else, Chamak’s character is definitely closer to my age group.

The image was because of Mirzapur hangover?

Yes that and Saas Bahu and Flamingo just reinforced that. Madhuri and Bijli, as much as I love them, I also want to do a Jasvinder Kaur in Chamak. Which is why it feels like a new beginning. I do feel new. My new year has come in a bit early. There is a tendency to get bitter if you spend too much time, too many idea of what needs to happen. But the acting course has ensured that I am back to square one and I want to chase some really cool things from here on now.