Tillotama Shome on her style mantra: ‘I will not punish my body and squeeze into someone’s idea of fashion’

Q. Contrary to glamorous debuts, you made yours as a household help in Monsoon Wedding. Why?

Tillotama Shome: I would ask, why not? Mira Nair is an extraordinary filmmaker. Getting an opportunity to debut in her film and to be on her set was nothing less than magic. It was the most brilliant introduction to cinema; we shot on film, and then the world went digital. That I played the part of Alice, a luminously drawn character dripping with magic realism, was a gift. I hope art can look beyond narrow-minded divisions and structures that divide and control. My beginnings taught me the importance of story over “optics.”

Q. Did that decision ever backfire, putting you at risk of being pigeonholed?

Tillotama Shome: First impressions tend to stick. It was only after some 20 years, during the shoot of Goutam Ghosh’s Raahgir, where I play a migrant worker, that I began to feel uncomfortable being cast as heart-breakingly poor characters. I welled up and decided to push for diverse roles and break the class-based stereotypes. Thank god for directors like Konkona Sensharma, Puneet Mishra, and Sudip Sharma that I got to transgress and break the curse of playing it “safe.” I am an actor, and the best part of this job is to find nuance and not fall into the trap that people think I am best suited to.

Q. What drives your decision to accept or reject projects?

Tillotama Shome: The script and the script. As I grow older, the people helming the project have become important. It’s a long engagement. Besides the craft, I want to grow with people who are good human beings.

Q. Tell us about your session at the Spoken Fest.

Tillotama Shome: I’ve attended the Spoken Fest as an audience many times and have loved every edition. It’s a unique audience, open, non-judgemental. They are not glossy and welcome all kinds of families. I love the spirit of this fest and the heart of its founders. In my session with Patralekhaa, we discussed how our upbringing informed our choices as actors.

Q. We love your style. What does fashion mean to you?

Tillotama Shome: Being comfortable. I will not punish my body and squeeze into someone’s idea of “fashion”.

Q. Fitness, too, is key to feeling good. What does your fitness routine entail?

Tillotama Shome: Daily exercise, eating a fibre and protein-rich diet, taking care of my plants, long walks, and spending time with the people who keep me mentally fit.

Q. Being an actor puts you in constant spotlight. Does it ever affect your mental health?

Tillotama Shome: I am in and out of the spotlight, so that keeps my arrogance in check. The dip in mental health became a thick reality with my perimenopause. Suddenly, strength training daily was no longer optional. I needed my body to show up for me when my mind was lost in some fog. And it works.

Q. Your Instagram bio reveals that you read and cook your way through trouble. Tell us about the bibliophile and home cook in you.

Tillotama Shome: I am full of cravings. As I get older, I am so much better at satisfying those cravings – be it knowing exactly what I want to eat or choosing a world I want to get lost in. Books and food nourish in ways that are inexplicable but certain.

Q. If not an actor, you would have been…

Tillotama Shome: A drama therapist perhaps, a wanderer, a gardener…

Q. The fest gave you an audience with which to interact. As a public personality, how important are such platforms for you

Tillotama Shome: It was a privilege to meet the people, the poets, and the voices of Shillong. I don’t know what they got from me, but I have come back electrified and rejuvenated. In a world where only certain voices get heard and amplified, the Spoken Fest makes space for different voices to tell their stories, and that is a space I would love to protect and grow with.