Tara Sutaria, an endless love story

Tara Sutaria looks like the sweetest kid on the block. So it comes as a surprise watching her play a femme fatale in Tadap. It’s hardly something you’d expect from a Disney heroine. Yes, Tara grew up as a child artiste and her most famous series was Disney’s The Suite Life Of Karan & Kabir (2012) and Oye Jassie (2013). She graduated to her first role as an adult in the teen drama Student Of The Year 2 (2019). Tara, who is also a trained singer, ironically played a mute girl in Marjaavaan (2019), her second outing. She will be seen opposite her fellow ‘Student’ Tiger Shroff in Heropanti 2 and in the thriller Ek Villain Returns. She talks nineteento-the-dozen about Tadap and about what movies mean to her. Over to the talented actor…

How did you manage to land Tadap? Was there a lot of conversation before you got the film?

I was shooting for a brand in Chennai and I got a call. I think Sajid Nadiadwala sir wanted to meet me for another film. I went to the office and met Milan Luthria sir and Ahan Shetty for the first time. I was handed a printout of a scene from The Dirty Picture, which is one of Milan Sir’s films that I love a lot. He sort of asked me to read through it with Ahan and we casually acted it out. It felt completely right and Sajid sir too acknowledged that. Both Milan sir and Sajid sir said that they were remaking the cult South film RX 100. I had heard so much about the film and watched the film a couple of times. I loved the intensity of the story. So that’s how it happened. I immediately said yes and we started workshops right away and a few days later started shooting the film.

What was the most intriguing part of your character in Tadap?

I think it’s just such an unusual role. Anybody who has seen RX 100 knows what I mean. And for those who haven’t, it’ll be a good twist and a good surprise. It was something different for me to do so early on in my career. It was interesting to get to play someone who has so much more to them than what we are used to seeing in films here. It’s just been fun and exciting for me to get to explore a million different shades to a character rather than just two or three which is generic.

Tell us about your dynamics with Ahan?

There’s been comfort and understanding from the beginning and especially in a film like this, I think it’s really important because had it not been there, things would have been difficult for both of us. We also had the opportunity to do tons of workshops and get to know each other better through rehearsals. We shot this film in Mussoorie and Rishikesh. You get to know a person better when you travel with them. So these things helped us a lot. It was great.

What does love and passion mean to you?

I am a Scorpio. Love is everything to a Scorpio. It’s the reason for everything. It sounds cheesy but I literally live for love and I love love stories. I connect with films like Tadap, where there is heartbreak, tragedy, and passion in abundance.

You have also been a part of Marjaavaan which was an action thriller as well...

Mar Jawan was very different from Student Of The Year 2 and Tadap is different from both. Milan sir has given it a pan-India approach. I think this movie will appeal to people of all ages because some of these emotions that we have shown in the film have been experienced by everyone at some point in their lives. My character in Tadap has a million different women in her. Whereas, in Marjawaan, my character was a mute girl, she communicated with sign language, she was very simple, very sweet. But in Tadap there’s a lot more to her.

You are very young but you’ve been around for a very long time, as you’ve been a child artiste earlier. What has been the biggest learning and unlearning for you so far?

I’ve done a lot of theatre and television work for Disney too. People seem to think that acting on stage, acting in film and acting on TV is completely different but essentially I feel acting is the same no matter where you do it. I have the highest respect for theatre actors and I am so grateful that I got to do so many years of that before I started my film career. The biggest learning is to be extremely aware and non-delusional about your skill sets, as a human being first and then as an actor. It’s important in our line of work, where there are thousands of exceptionally talented and good looking people, to know where you stand and how you can grow. It’s important to not look at this anymore as competition and rather look at it as a time for inclusivity. I think my learning has been that. Unlearning would probably be to stop being so anxious about the newness of the job. I think there is a lot of newness because I am new to the film world. I used to be very anxious about not knowing things, not knowing people. I think I’m much better off now, much more comfortable in my position and space.

What’s your take on the viewership shift towards the OTT platform?

The OTT platform has opened up a whole new level of storytelling for us. The culture in our country is driven by Bollywood and theatrical releases. But it’s fantastic what the various OTT channels have achieved in this short span of time. During the pandemic, there’s been nothing better than for all of us to sit back and relax and watch something that we love on OTT. The shift has been great and I look forward to even more amazing content.

Do you fear being stereotyped?

I care about the story a lot. I love intensity and passion and love stories. These kinds of things really appeal to me. I’d rather do something that attracts me instantly when I read the story. I have recently noticed the pattern in the things I am choosing. And I am dying to do a bunch of other stuff. In fact, I have a couple of announcements coming up that are very exciting and different from what I am doing right now.