Govind Nihalani’s Jaya Bachchan starrer Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa completed 28 years recently on March 20. On the film’s anniversary, Joy Sengupta, who played a pivotal character in the movie, got talking about it in an interview with us.
It's been 28 years of your finest Hindi film Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa. What are your immediate thoughts on this mellow masterpiece on a mother's grief and search for a lost son?
I would like to believe I manifested my casting, as from the beginning my strongest aspiration in film acting, if at all it transpired, was to begin with the director who had stolen my sleep with Aakrosh and deeply sensitised me through Ardh Satya, Aaghat and Tamas. So, while I had met Govind ji four years earlier while still studying acting and expressed my desire to be part of his work in whatever capacity, he had obviously forgotten about it.
When he came to watch my debut play in Mumbai and carried an impression, coupled with some kind words from Bhawana Somaaya (the editor of Screen at the time). When he faced some date issues from an established actor at the time, he switched his attention to me. I went through an arduous audition process, and finally was green lighted. What was interesting about this film was Govind ji's choice of taking the mother's journey beyond the discovery of her son's parallel life, into the realm of actual fight for justice and human rights. It was so akin to Gorky's epic creation of his Mother, who picks up the flag from her dead son Ivan.
Every time I watch it, I am impressed by your muted unvarnished performance. Where do you place the film in your repertoire?
My acting in this film was less of an act, more of a learning, as a student of cinematic grammar, something I needed to add post my diploma in theatre studies, specialising in acting. I was just fortunate that I had Govind ji to hand hold me and a stellar cast to support me, in this journey... Thus what came out was less planned, more experimental.
How would you rate Govind Nihalani as a director?
Govind ji dispelled my preconceived notions of acting in cinema, bringing in all the homework and intensity from home, and made me realise that the director's vision, his choices were supreme and made me learn the importance of placing my performance in tandem to the whole tapestry of the film, relying more on the power of my eyes, the window to the cinematic soul. Thus I was ready when the next one took off four years later, literally living those 25 days on the set and within his process to become syncretic with his visual rhythm.
What was it like working with the intimidating Jaya Bachchan?
Jaya ji was very kind to me. I had a personality which bordered on shy diffidence, absorbing from all around me, while being my natural self, which is thinking and sensitising. I guess Jaya ji's natural self which is very very sensitive and aesthetic and proper in decorum, received myself positively because we acted with each other less, behaved as characters with each other more. It was very organic.
I have watched your films in Bengali. I feel you are underused in Hindi cinema
I am underused in the Hindi mainstream cinema. Yes, very much, because I never really pushed my visibility or credibility... but I am overused across the medium, as I balance active theatre, with films and OTT as well as voicing and teaching. Added to that, my area of working in three languages Hindi, Bengali and English, then it does become substantial. But yeah, I have never been part of verily high profile or commercially very successful Hindi films.
More Pages: Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa Box Office Collection
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