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Journalism of Courage
Tejaswini Kolhapure gets talking to Ashok Kumar of Expressindia in an exclusive interview.
You have been modelling, worked for ad films and mainstream cinema as well. What appeals to you the most?
All these things are very different from each other, like films are different from modelling. Modelling is more of glamour while films reach to a larger audience.
We can’t connote modelling with Indian cinema.
Is it because of your background, that today you are in films?
No. It if it were because of my background I would have joined this profession much before than I actually did.
When did you finally decide to act?
I started with the TV serial Mujhe Chand Chahiye. It was based on a novel, which is like the Bible of NSD (National School of Drama).
You have worked for a Television serial. How was it working for the small screen?
It was very frustrating. You have to do twenty scenes in a day. I somehow did not find working for the small screen satisfying.
How did Paanch happen to you? How was your experience working for it since it was your debut film?
Tutu (Sharma) for a long time wanted to cast me in his film. While, Anurag (Kashyap) wanted to make Paanch, he had written the script even before doing Satya. Anurag described the story to Tutu, who agreed to make a film on it.
It was Anurag who suggested to Tutu that I might suit the role. So Tutu asked me to read the script, and I decided to take a plunge for it.
How did you feel facing the camera for the first time ever?
I was petrified before the camera when I faced it for the first time. The whole feeling of whether I would be able to remember my lines (dialogues) scared me.
Are you ever bothered about the comparisons drawn between you and your elder sister Padmini Kohlapure?
No. I have stopped thinking about any such comparisons, even if some people draw them about. In reality, we are two different individuals.
In what ways have you been influenced by your elder sister professionally?
My sister’s (Padmini) viewpoint is that one should do one’s job well and then forget about it. What I have learned from her is that one should not take work back home. Because if you do that it starts bothering you end up thinking about it all the time.
In an interview you once said, “I was too dark, too tall, too thin. I never thought I would be an actress.” Do you still think the same way?
No. Not anymore. In fact I want to be darker now because now it (dark complexion) has been accepted by the world all over. What I believe is more than the physical features you have to be attractive.
What have you to say about the exploitation of newcomers in this field of show business?
Exploitation is there in almost every field. But it is highlighted here.
