Sailing through

So, Das learnt Odissi for about 12 years. So much so that she thought she would become a professional dancer. Her first stint with acting began when she joined Safdar Hashmi8217;s street theatre group, Jan Natya Manch, quot;but street theatre is not so much about acting, as it is about the issue involved.quot; Still, Das stayed with the group for six years,until she began working in theatre with the likes of Barry John, Habib Tanvi and M K Raina. In the midst of all this, she graduated in geography quot;I chose the subject because we had a great teacherquot; and was at a confusing juncture as far as her Masters was concerned.

Taking a year off to teach a class of fifth-graders at the Rishi Valley School, near Bangalore, Das realised she wanted to spend the rest of her life working among people. So, while on one hand she dabbled in television, including a serial with Muzaffar Ali quot;but mostly stuff related to women8217;s issuesquot;, on the other she decided that she would do her MA in social work. quot;I worked briefly in an organisation for women called Ankur, and then switched to an organisation for children called Alarippu. At Alarippu, the purpose was to promote education, make learning fun for children and teaching fun for teachers, she recounts. Simultaneously, Das also conducted workshops with primary school teachers and rural children.

Her first film assignment camein 1987. It was a small yet interesting role in Prakash Jha8217;s relatively unknown film Pariniti, which, like her second film in 1995, Ek Thi Gunja, died out soon after it did the festival rounds and premiered on television. quot;In a way, Fire was my first starring role,quot; she giggles, surprised at her own choice of words. Next up, she featured in Govind Nihalani8217;s Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa and Mehta8217;s 1947: Earth, and even took on a non-speaking, walk-on part in Nagesh Kukunoor8217;s Rockford. Among her forthcoming films are Water, Rakesh Mehra8217;s commercial debut opposite Amitabh Bachchan, a film on AIDS called Ek Alag Mausam written by Mahesh Dattani, and a real-life story of a gang-rape victim directed by Jagmohan Mundhra. Her next release, would probably be Shyam Benegal8217;s Hari Bhari.

She collects her thoughts when you ask her why she turned down the female lead in the Aamir Khan-starrer, Mann. quot;I know Aamir was very keen that I do the film, andbecause we8217;re good friends I went along and met with the film-makers who narrated the entire subject to me. For some reason, the way I was imagining the film just didn8217;t match their version of it. So, I thought it would better not to take up something that you don8217;t see in the same light as the director,quot; she explains. Once again, she auditioned reluctantly for Lagaan on Aamir8217;s insistence, but says quot;the director thought there was too much intelligence in my eyes.quot;

Das, who says has no regrets about turning down the films, prefers to work on interesting films in any language instead. Having already featured in a Kannada, a Malayalam and a Bengali film, the actress says language should never be a barrier. quot;For an actor, how does it matter what language you are working in? As long as your role is convincing, little else is important,quot; she says.

As for Bollywood fare, Das reveals she has met film-makers like Subhash Ghai and David Dhawan socially. quot;They8217;ve seen my work and have complimented me on it,quot;she adds. quot;And though I don8217;t want to do the typical Hindi movie, I8217;m game for anything that is well-written and makes sense,quot; she declares.