Bidita Bag “Babumoshai bandookbaaz opened my account in the film industry”

For versatile Bidita Bag, Rabbi came immediately after her recent hit Babumoshai Bandookbaaz where she was teamed opposite Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Bidita, whose talent is being recognized across the globe for her bold acting in Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, tells JYOTHI VENKATESH that she has always had an inclination towards socio-political films and Rabbi which tanked at the box office was one such film addressing social beliefs.

Babumoshai Bandookbaaz was not your debut film
Yes. Babumoshai Bandookbaaz was not my first film though I became known after the release of the film. My first film was Ichche in Bengali, directed by Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nanidita Roy which was released way back in 2011, followed by Bidyut Kotaki’s As The River Flows which was my debut film in Hindi, opposite Sanjay Suri, though From Sydney With Love was released first.

You are a model who has shifted towards films!
Yes. Till 2011, I was a model. Though I did not learn acting from any acting academy, I kept myself surrounded by graduates from the National School of Drama and the Film & Television Institute, Pune.

How are you feeling after the recent success of Babumoshai Bandookbaaz?
It has been a couple of years since I started, and finally my work has been recognized by the wider audience with this movie. It is Babumoshai Bandookbaaz which has opened my account in the film industry. I was roped in at the eleventh hour in the film when Chitrangda Singh refused to do the steamy kissing scenes and hence I did not get any opportunity to do any workshop to get into the skin of my charater. Babumoshai Bandookbaaz was a small budget film but Pahalaj Nihalani ensured that he gave maximum publicity to a small film like this by banning it and made it a big success. The film earned for the producers money and all the artistes got a lot of appreciation including me.

Were you sceptical about doing the film after Chitrangda walked out because you had to do steaming lip locks in it?
Whatever hesitation that I had over doing the role disappeared after read the script and I had absolutely no inhibition at all while enacting the role because Kushan Nandy who directed the film knew the character from the back of his palm as he had a good grasp of the medium and as a co-actor, Nawaz also guided me a lot and coaxed me to do well.

Weren’t you worried about being typecast as a sensuous actor in future?
Any sensible director will know that it was a part of the character I was playing, and I am not an actress who was doing a bold scene for the sake of it. Doing such scenes is not that easy and it requires certain talent as well.

How was the experience of acting with Nawaz ?
Nawaz Siddiqui is a very talented artiste and in some ways I could easily relate to him and his struggle to make it in Bollywood. Of course, for me the entry came much sooner as compared to him. He is a gem and a very nice human being and is very grounded and humble which I think is the reason for his success. I learnt from his how to fill in the pauses in dialogues.

Your last release Rabbi tanked. What prompted you to choose the film?
From the moment I heard the story, I was in love with it. I believe the movie set out to answer some important questions that are left unanswered in our day to day lives. Is Music forbidden in Islam was something that appealed to me. In our society people are made to be God-fearing, whereas actually we should be God-loving. I feel it is important to communicate this message.

How was the crew and how did you fit in considering the diverse amounts of experience spread across?
I would happily say all the senior members loved me a lot and made me feel at home. Dolly Ahluwaliaji, Virendra Kalaji, Raghubir Yadavji were all very supportive. In fact we gelled very well over music since both Raghubirji and Virendraji enjoy singing and I play the harmonium, we had our own musical sessions that I cherish even today.

Do you feel you have got what you deserve as an actor?
I do not feel that I have got even a fraction of what I feel that I deserve as an actor but then every actor including Amitabh Bachchan also feels the same.

How do you manage to strike the balance between working in commercial films and art films Rabbi?
If you remember, even Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil used to strike the right balance between art films and commercial films at one time. Like them I want to do a balancing act between both the genres of films.Every artist has a unique journey. Along with hard work, even luck plays a part in one’s fate. I would say this industry is uncertain from a career perspective. If you want to make a career in this industry, you need to be extremely patient and constantly work on improving your skills. You should give yourself enough time and failures should not stop you.

Are you happy with the way your career has progressed since last seven years from Ichche till Rabbi?
I do not do too many films. I am happy with all the films that I have done because I choose films and do not accept each and every film that is offered to me. I did only one mistake by choosing a wrong film but luckily for me that film is yet to see the light of the day.

What next?
I have a few movies in the pipeline such as Shree Varun’s Daya Bai which is biopic on Kerala-born Daya Bai, who works among the tribals of central India to better their lot, Kirit Khurana’s T for Taj Mahal, a film on education, Partho Sarkar’s Gangster among others. They are all realistic films based on real life stories.