Born to shine on celluloid

Actress Sayani Gupta will be seen in a crucial role in critically- acclaimed Shonali Bose’s alongside Kalki Koechlin

Marriage Dot Com . Sayani points out, “I took it up as a trial run because I was quite sure that it wouldn’t release, but it did! Then I did a Bengali film called

and that was a wonderful learning experience. My journey as an actor has therefore been very gradual.”

All the roles she has bagged since then have come to her through the process of auditions. “That’s the only way to go if you don’t know anyone in the industry. Luckily, we’re in a time when Bollywood is very corporate in the sense that studios go about their work very professionally. You get called for auditions, and called back if you get through. I’ve had no experience of exploitation so far, touchwood, and have met very nice people along my way. I think the key lies in the attitude you take towards what you do. If you treat your job like a job, regardless of whether you make friends or not, it pans out much better than if you set too much store by personal fulfillment beyond the work you’re there to do. You’ll make friends with some people and not with others. It’s the same with any profession,” she affirms. Talking about

she says, “It is Laila’s ( Kalki Koechlin) coming of age story and there are two women who play a substantial role in inspiring her to become the person she eventually becomes. One is her mother and the other is the character I play. Laila meets me when she comes to study in New York, at a protest rally. I’m among the people firing slogans, and am blind. It’s the first time she meets someone who is also differently- abled, but is a person of her own and has a lot of mettle and fire within her. She is completely awe- struck by me and goes through a journey with me to understand how to celebrate herself. My character has a lot of passion and at no point in the film do you see her regretting that she can’t see. She just goes out there and lives her life. The movie as a whole, I feel, shows you a great representation of women, also because it is made by Shonali who is a very independent woman herself.”