“Before the Rains” Lead Actress Nandita Das at Tribeca

Lead actress Nandita Das was at the Tribeca Film Festival promoting one of her films, “Before the Rains” about an idealistic young indian man (Rahul Bose) who finds himself torn between his ambitions for the future and his loyalty to the past when people in his village learn of an affair between his British boss and a village woman (Nandita Das). Nandita Das is a huge actress in India. She chatted with Shannon Lin on this wonderful film.

ASIANCE: Are you excited to have your film at the Tribeca Film Festival?

Nandita: I feel lucky that I have two of my films here. This one, “Before The Rains” and “Ramchand Pakistani”, both the films I am very happy to be part of because they’ve been made by very sincere, committed, and creative people. So I’m excited to see the response of the audience. I just saw the premiere of “Ramchand Pakistani” last night and people seemed to really like it. “Before the Rains” was at the Toronto Festival so I know the responses are positive. As an actor it’s very satisfying that you’ve worked in projects that are being well received.

ASIANCE: How are audiences welcoming a beautiful South Asian actress?

Nandita: I think the world is becoming smaller; they are more exposed to South Asia now than they were before. I think we, in our part of the world, know more about the Americans and their way of life through films, books and television. It’s opening up the other way around and they are being exposed to films like this and films like this are being theatrically released. There are many nice films that never make it this far. So I’m very excited about the fact that it’s come this far.

ASIANCE: How does this film overcome boundaries?

Nandita: India was colonized for 200 years but I still find people saying, “How come you speak good English?” and I’m like, “We were colonized for 200 years, I grew up speaking English, that’s what we were educated in.” So I think cinema can be a great way of knowing each other’s cultures, it’s a great way of lessening one’s preconceived notions and prejudices. So I think when people come out of a film like this, the story itself is very universal and timeless. It would be the same for today but differently adapted. Knowing each other’s context and why somebody behaves in a certain way, not by judging it from where you are but actually entering a certain context is a good thing and how we all grow, so cinema by and large is a good medium to do that. Something like “Before The Rains” exposes them to a certain part of India, a certain milieu. The fact that even at that time people fell in love, yes women could defy, and be strong. The film is very layered. It’s not a very simplistic take. People think India means Bollywood song and dance but that’s not what Indian films are all about. There’s a whole range of films and “Before the Rains” is something that’s outside the mainstream.

ASIANCE: How do you prepare for a role?

Nandita: To be honest I don’t really prepare too much unless a character is something historical or so out of the imagination like, “How would this be I can’t even begin to imagine?” Otherwise the characters are so real and emotions are so universal that you connect with it. With the film I could relate to a character like that. I can see the dilemma of a woman being in a traditional setup, not having the courage to defy her husband who beats her up and all that, until she truly falls in love and that compels her. And I do believe in love and that’s what gives her the strength to defy everything. Film is such a technical medium where we must think of our lighting and the marks and all that. Also we are trained to intellectualize too many things because of education or upbringing. So my approach is to bring spontaneity and emotion to life while shooting so it doesn’t get cluttered with too much analysis and technicality. Once you’re on the set and in the moment you just have to be true to that moment and true to that person you portray.

ASIANCE: Are you pursuing a film career in the U.S.?

Nandita: To be honest I’m not so ambitious as an actress. I haven't done too much to push myself. If things have come my way, I’ve made choices among what I’ve got. So I think if I get some good roles here I’d be happy. But just to be in the U.S., just to be waiting in Hollywood saying, “Ok, will there be a role for an Indian woman, my age and my accent, with my looks?” I’d be waiting forever for that one role. Now the stereotyping of the Indian characters needs to decrease like how it was a few decades ago with Chinese or Black actors. Many of these countries are so multi-ethnic and like a melting pot so you can have various people from different ethnicities without them being stereotypical characters. “Before the Rains” will hopefully expose me more, and so I do hope a good thing will come my way and if it does I would surely like to do it.