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EXCLUSIVE: Newton's actor Anjali Patil: The way I look wasn't my choice; whatever I have is my nature
"Digital space is giving a lot of choices to the generation who are very specific and has a certain taste. It is giving audiences who have limited time and want to spend time watching a good thing and not a "no-brainer" thing a broader choice," says Anjali Patil.
Anjali Patil, the actor who left an impressive footprint with her stint in Newton, also starring Rajkummar Rao and Pankaj Tripathi, recent outing Meri Nimmo garnered a lot of praises. Meri Nimmo which premiered on Eros Now Digital is a story of an eight-year-old boy falling in love with an older girl Nimmo only to wake up to the rude shock of her marriage and what follows post that makes for an interesting premise.
Directed by Rahul Shankalya and produced by Aanand L Rai, the movie explores the innocence and complexities of love from the perspective of a child.
Chatting to Pinkvilla exclusively, Anjali pointed, "I think it might look complex but it is very genuine story of a young boy, Hemmu (played by Karan Dave) who falls for a girl who is sort of taking care of her, feeding him, bathing him and one fine day his best friend, kind of exclaims and says that you and she have a thing and it is not just liking. Then his journey begins with this thought and feeling."
She also illustrated how the story is relevant and relatable across generations and social backdrop. "We have all had our moments in the childhood when we have had a small crush on our elder sister's boyfriend or our teachers. It doesn't just happen in an urban surrounding, it could happen anywhere. For example, this story is set in a small town. I think once a person watches, he will understand why this story is so relatable. The story from the perspective of a child, his efforts of winning the girl and the adult's opinion on it is intriguing. We as adults look at them and think it is a very complex thing but it is quite normal. We are taught to think and love and fall in love with people from our age groups but children can love and like anyone."
But when we speak of complexities, don't we think that the child might perhaps be just infatuated? To this, Anjali said, "In the context of the film, Karan and Rahul were sure that this is love and not affection."
Having a child as a co-star can be challenging. Replying to this, Anjali added, "I don't know. My method as an actor changes with film to film. Sometimes, the method is to not do anything and just be there with the co-actor."
"Karan is a very brilliant actor He is gifted. He has an impeccable sense of the scene and is very mature for his age and extremely professional. All of us were in love with him anyway. All I had to do was to hang out with him and the gang. I was also the child on the sets and was being myself. We were playing hide and seek on the sets amidst shots. The children were all like my buddies."
However, Anjali recalled the one time she felt emotional doing a scene with Karan which involved her slapping him. About that, Anjali revealed, "There was a scene where I had to hit him and by then Karan and I were really bonded. I could not do it. It wasn't possible for me to slap him and he kept on saying that it is okay but I just couldn't get myself to. I am a professional actor but still, I just couldn't and then Rahul came and said you have to do it otherwise it will look fake. So, I did it but then I couldn't stop myself from crying and then I gave him a pizza party."
Moving over, an ecstatic Anjali spoke fondly of how the digital space is truly a boom for the audience looking for quality content. She said, "Digital space is giving a lot of choices to the generation who are very specific and has a certain taste. It is giving audiences who have limited time and want to spend time watching a good thing and not a "no-brainer" thing a broader choice. It is giving a lot of scope for the individual choices to flourish and also filmmakers who can work without the pressure of box-office and stars."
On what does she look specifically in a role, Anjali stated, "It is simple. I am an artist and that might sound very radical in interviews but I did not choose to be a Bollywood actor, I chose to be an artist first. I was writing poems, was painting, I am a musician, and acting in films is a part of that. Of course, I have to pay my bills as well. But I take very proud to lend my creative skills and strike a balance whilst not compromising on my core values as an artist because if I start doing something which doesn't go with me as an artist, I am not going to enjoy. What I look in filmmaking is sheer happiness. If I am going to enjoy the script and enjoy making that character with the director and if I am going to have fun with the people who are working with the same passion for the film, yes, I would say yes to whatever it is. There are people even in Bollywood who work with this ethics so I won't say that there is all darkness in Bollywood."
Anjali in her several interviews have mentioned the racial discrimination she faced due to her skin colour. About that, Anjali explained how she had to battle the self-hatred and emerge as a strong, invincible woman. She said, "In the beginning, I used to feel really bad about it. The way I look, it wasn't my choice and however beautiful, ugly or the skin whatever I have is my nature."
She continued, "I feel great when filmmakers come to me and say that we want you in the film because you look like most of the people. Okay, that's fun and great for me. I want to do real cinema but when filmmakers say 'hey this is the tribal girl', what do they mean just because I have different features? So, it is very direct and indirect in so many ways."
She recalled how such incidents scared her in the beginning of her career. She said, "I have stopped auditioning for commercials since seven years though it includes tremendous money because it has scarred me so much in the beginning and gave me so much self-hatred. It took a while for me to come back to myself and see that it is okay, the money, the people, I am not going to get into that. They have no power over me."
Lastly, discussing the casting couch issue, Anjali said, "I don't want to say that I have been lucky that I didn't face it. It's not proper if I say that. I didn't face it but I have seen people who have faced it, have seen people dong it in a very direct and indirect way. I have also seen people including my good male friends being tortured and not getting the opportunity. I have lost on a number of opportunities because I am kind of a no-nonsense person."
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