Sangita Ghosh, an actress, is well-known in the industry for her ability to bring characters to life on screen. In an exclusive phone conversation, she discusses her journey, her skepticism about portraying unpleasant characters and her thoughts on making movies with The Pioneer.
Tejal Sinha
Every daily soap viewer will remember Sangita Ghosh as Muskaan Mallik in Mehndi Tere Naam Ki or Pammi in Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand. These back-to-back shows had made her a household name in the television industry.
Well, her stint in the industry goes way beyond that, but hey, why do we talk about it when we have her for an exclusive chat with The Pioneer? “Oh god, you are making me sit and think about it (we laugh). It’s been a long journey, but it has just passed by. Television you work day in and out. You don’t realise it. These days, people come up and meet me on sets and say, ‘Humne aapka yeh show dekha tha and oh god, you still look the same.’ It’s then that I realise ‘Itne saal hogaye. I need to tell them all, ‘Relax guys, don’t make me old, tee-hee.”
However, it’s been a rewarding journey for her and considering getting the opportunity to work on shows loved by people with good teams, she says, it’s been quite a fulfilling journey with a lot more to come.
Initially, she began her journey as a child actor before she could get her big break at the age of around 23 with Mehndi Tere Naam Ki. She did do shows, including Daraar and Adhikaar, but in a supporting role. Back then, she recalls, “We did not think of it as struggles. I did it because I wanted to do television and amongst many other reasons, I started liking what I was doing. I was not sure what I was going to do. I gave an audition and got selected for one of the roles and that’s how the journey started. Struggles, however, if you ask, were reaching the studios on time. I was fortunate that, back then, at that time, I got to work with very good people. Initially, you do have struggles, but I don’t want to get into them and glorify them. I don’t consider it a struggle, but just like your learning period.”
No doubt, vamps and villains play a significant role in television shows, or even films, for that matter. And what is a show with a negative character? If you look back at her stints, she too has played several negative characters, including Doli Saja Ke, Rishton Ka Chakravyuh and Divya Drishti. So is there like another type of fascination for such roles, we wonder and the Kehta Hai Dil Jee Le Zara actress gleefully shares, “Thank you for reminding me of Doli (she giggles). Doli Saja Ke was the first show where I played an antagonist! Doli was offered to me by Aruna Ji, which was a cameo and I couldn’t say no to her. With her itself, I had worked on her shows as a protagonist and she asked me. For her, I can do anything. Even if she asks me to give a passion shot, I’d love to do it. Rishton Ka Chakravyuh: I found the role to be very prompt and it didn’t bother me that I was not the protagonist of the show. The way the role was narrated, I was just hooked on it.”
But with Divya Drishti, on the other hand, she did have questions in her mind about how the maker felt that she could do justice to the role! She further continues, “It was a fantasy show and I genuinely didn’t think of playing a ‘Pisachini’. When I met Mukta, she was like, just do it; you’ll have fun. It was something different and I wanted to challenge myself. I didn’t know how I would do it, but once I did that show, I had so much fun.”
It was so much fun for her on the sets that there were times she’d end up laughing at the dialogue she had to say. Then came Swaran Ghar, with whom she wasn’t sure about playing a negative character, keeping in mind that she has a daughter now. “I wasn’t sure whether I wanted my daughter to see me playing a negative role because, she’s just two and a-half. Luckily, she’s not watching television and I was like, let’s do it until she watches me on-screen! She needs to grow up to know that these are just roles and this generally does not happen in real life.”
She also recalls one of the incidents when her daughter somehow watched a clip of her feeling playing that character, where she fell dizzy. And her daughter immediately called her, saying, ‘Mumma girl gayi’.
Going ahead, she feels very fortunate to be getting to play different lead roles. “We need to look for roles that have a lot of meat. I feel antagonistic roles have a lot of meat, are fun, purposeful and colourful. If you can crack it, then it’s a lot of fun to play it,” says the Nach Baliye star, adding, “I don’t think playing negative characters should really impact. Personally, I understand the difference between what’s real and what’s reel. I always tend to leave it behind. As an actor, I do try to feel the backstory of the character. There are times I ask my director, ‘Yeh aurat pagal toh nahi hai na’. However, I believe that there are flaws within everyone and I don’t approach any such character with pressure. I try to have fun and bring my own logic to it.”
Talking of her negative roles, she’s once again seen playing the role of an antagonist, Saroj, in Sun Neo’s Saajha Sindoor. Getting onboard was no less than a cakewalk for her, having known the makers already. With Nandita, she goes back to a much-long association, right from Mehndi Tere Naam Ki to Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chaand and many more. “I got a chance to work with her after 17 years, so I was in. However, when she told me it was an antagonist, I was in two minds. However, she convinced me that if I’d do it, the role would be something else. Then I knew the writer also and I have been working with him for a long time. He narrated the role, and something just hit within and I was like, Let’s do it. There was a lot of back and forth, but again, just because it was a negative role was not the reason, but a lot of things, like thinking about my daughter, I had to leave her in Jaipur and travel to Mumbai. I wanted the role to be worth it for me to leave my daughter and travel. I had immense trust in the team and so I went along.”
Working with Sun Neo on Sun TV was again a plus point for her to get on board. She further found it intriguing to play a second wife.
For Parvarrish fame, it’s always been about the role, the production house and the vibe. Sangita, who doesn’t limit herself to any genre or character on a concluding note, speaks of why she hasn’t worked in films. She humorously shares, “Koi offer hi nahi karta, kya kare. I don’t really sit and think much about it. I feel that if it has to come to me, it will. I am okay with giving auditions, but not to prove myself as an actor. If the director thinks I might fit in that role, then that’s different, but not to prove my capability. I have worked for so many years. Even if I had to give 100 auditions to play that particular role, I would do it, but sorry, I wouldn’t give auditions just to check if I could act or not.”
————————————————————-
