SUPRIYA PATHAK SAYS PLAYING A MOTHER ON SCREEN EXCITES HER

Veteran actor Supriya Pathak, who played an unwed mother in Masoom (1983) and an unschooled mom in Wake Up Sid (2009), played a mother on several occasions, but each time was different.

The actor attained cult status for playing Hansa Parekh in the comedy franchise Khichdi. But the audience also loves her work in films such as Bazaar (1982), Goliyon Ki Raasleela RamLeela (2013) and Delhi-6 (2009). While she has played various characters in her Bollywood career that started in the early 1980s, one thing she accepts is that she often gets to essay a mother’s role in movies.

“I know that I play a mother all the time, but different kinds of mother. Every time I get the role of a mother, I try to find a different area, person or milieu where I can put the mother... that’s exciting. It’s me who has to make it more interesting and find things to do in it,” she says.

Even in her recent film, Tigers, she plays a mother. “I found the subject relevant. I feel that cinema, if made entertainingly with a certain meaning, reaches out to a lot more people,” she explains.

Directed by Oscar winner Danis Tanovic, the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival back in 2014. “Now that it has come out, we are happy,” says Supriya, who has been a part of another international film UNindian, which starred former Australian cricketer Brett Lee.

Asked about working on an international film, she says: “I learnt a lot from the director (Tanovic). He taught me how to look at a character and be precise.”

PHOTO: YOGEN SHAH Actor Supriya Pathak