‘MY ROLE TOOK A TOLL ON ME’

Says actor Moon Banerrjee, who talks about the repercussions of staying in a character for long and how it affected her personally

Popular for her roles in Kasautii Zindagii Kay, Sasural Genda Phool and Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi, actor Moon Banerrjee was last seen in the TV drama Muskaan. She reveals that she had quite a tough time detaching from the show and her character, which was of a regressive mother-in-law. While she was aware that she would be playing a ‘saas’, as the show progressed, audiences began loving her character a lot and due to the positive responses, her role was given more prominence.

Moon explains, “To begin with, it was quite challenging for me to think like the character, Gayatri Devi. I am a modern liberal woman, while my character was a conservative lady. It was tough for me to switch from being Moon to Gayatri Devi, so I needed to get under the skin of the character. Later, there was a phase in the show where she was being tortured leading to a death scene and that track went on for a month. Staying in character was quite difficult, as I would often be required to cry all day during the shoot. All those emotions made me very cranky and upset. After packing up the shoot, I would try switching off (from my role), but it was difficult as the character stayed with me.”

For an actor, one is prepared to become a character on screen, but Moon says that some characters stay with you longer than needed.

She goes on to admit that the whole exercise wrung her out and she was “barely” herself. It affected her to the extent that she began having arguments at home. “I was snappy and usually stayed by myself, as I knew if I got out of the character, getting back into it will be tougher. That’s why I lived with it for a longer duration, but it was the last one month of shoot that really took a toll on me. Once the show ended it took me a week to recover,” she says, adding that a trip to unwind and hanging out with friends made her “feel like herself again”.

I knew if I got out of the character, getting back into it will be tougher. That’s why I lived with it for a longer duration. Once the show ended it took me a week to recover MOON BANERRJEE,

ACTOR