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EXCLUSIVE: Debina Bonnerjee: Indians have the habit to diss their own folklores & appreciate foreign content
In a candid and exclusive chat with Pinkvilla, Debina Bonnerjee opened up on her decision to play an antagonist in Vish: The Poisonous Story, the criticism that supernatural shows on Indian television face and more.
Vish: A Poisonous Story actor Debina Bonnerjee recently made headlines after she donned a black bikini raising the temperatures on social media. The actress returned to television in a rather sultry avatar with Vish and revealed that she is happy to be back to the small screen after a sabbatical. In a candid and exclusive chat with Pinkvilla, Debina opened up on her decision to play an antagonist, the criticism that supernatural shows on Indian television face and more. Excerpts from the interview:
Coming back to the sets, adapting to the 12-14 hours grind yet again...how happy or excruciating has it been? Tell us about your character?
I am very happy and it is not very excruciating because my set is in Madh. I don’t have to travel to Naigaon like my previous show. Second thing is that when I was offered Vish, I realised with the character brief that was given to me that she was hot, she was sexy, chic and a lot of thought went behind her every look and every costume is different. This role is something I have not played and seen. So, I thought this is something which is different and I haven’t done before. Television sometimes get monotonous, you end up doing similar characters. This is something which I thought would stand out. It is an amalgamation of things I have done before. She is an antagonist with a twist; she is fun and entertaining. It will be great for people to watch.
Not many actresses on TV would take up an antagonists role. What encouraged you to do it?
I think an actor should have only one image that is of being a good actor. If someone tomorrow casts me, it is for my acting. I have a lot more scope than just looking good. In films, there is no demarcation between hero and villain, but there was a demarcation once. These days, every character is grey and depicts human emotions. Even the antagonist has her or his own reasons to behave in a certain way. If you just understand that I think the gap between OTT platforms and TV will vanish. In TV, people want to play only bahus character, only if everybody could accept all the characters, be it white, grey or black; with that kind of a mindset, I have picked up this character and I'm enjoying every bit of it.
Television today seems to be obsessed with supernatural dramas. Do you think as a medium TV and the people working on it need to change?
I think it has to, rather it has. Because if not, it will vanish. Television as a medium cannot [change], it will only change with the people who are working on it. India is now getting digitalised, but television continues to remain a core part. So, the audience who is not exposed to the OTT platform turn to TV for entertainment. Sometimes, people say this is regressive, this is crass, but I feel each show has its own scope because as a child I used to hear fairytales and apart from Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty which are not Indian fairytales; our fairytales have been about Naagins and the Vishkanyas. So, why not have that? We can't omit that. People here have a mentality to diss everything that is Indian. Why not give that a chance?
TV for the longest time has remained regressive and especially of late, we have seen that a lot of supernatural dramas received backlash or have been trolled. What are your thoughts on it?
I feel that Indians have this tendency to demean their own things. They never respect their own entity. Only when Amartya Sen goes and gets a Nobel prize, we say he is an Indian. Speaking of Yoga, when Americans are talking about yoga, we think of it as a huge thing. I think we need to have more belief in our own fairytales than others.
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