I didn’t understand Hindi, Ratna Pathak Shah made fun of me when I used to speak English outside: Sushmita Mukherjee

Actress Sushmita Mukherjee, who has been working on the small and big screen for the past several years, is in discussion these days for her TV show Meri Saas Bhoot Hai. Sushmita is not only an actor but also a director and writer. Our exclusive conversation with Sushmita about the show…

Talking about the show, Sushmita says, ‘It is actually a very cute show. Very different characters and a very fun show. The base of this show has taken an element from Aparna Sen’s famous film Goonar Baksho. So my character is inspired from Moushumi Chatterjee’s character in Goonar Baksho and we made this show based on the same film. The show is very interesting that when the mother-in-law turns into a ghost, how she mends the relationships she has and how the fight for supremacy in the family takes place, these things have been shown. So it is a drama and comedy show.

Today’s kids are very focused on their work.

On her experience of working with new people, Sushmita says, ‘It is wrong for people to say that today’s kids live only in mobiles. I feel that today’s kids are very focused and remember their lines well, stay in character, come on time, have no tantrums and no arrogance. I feel people should have love for art and that love is visible in today’s kids, so I learn a lot from them every day.’

there are things like ghosts

She is in the role of a ghost in the serial, so does she believe in things like ghosts or not? But Sushmita says, ‘Yes, I absolutely agree. I think when a person dies so does your soul. In our Sanatan Dharma, it is believed that after the death of a person, the soul goes on a journey, then the souls who have some desires left, they keep roaming to fulfill that desire.

Love of work only encourages to work further

Talking about being active in acting over the years, she says, ‘I think if you love what you do, then on the days you are not working or doing some kind of art, you feel very proud of yourself. feel weak. You just look at Amitabh Bachchan, even at the age of 80, he works with such hard work, so we are still much younger than him. So love for your work only motivates you.

Hindi was not known in the National School of Drama

Regarding her initial days, Sushmita says, ‘When I first came to NSD (National School of Drama), I did not know Hindi. Ratna Pathak Shah, Deepa Shahi people made fun of my bad Hindi a lot. After that I learned good Hindi and Urdu from a master. In fact, I did not know Hindi because we used to speak Bengali at home and used to speak English outside, so Hindi was not understood at all, but I learned Hindi after coming to NSD and now I speak Hindi very well.

was always ahead in cultural events

Regarding the hobby of acting, he says, ‘I think I had the hobby of acting from my mother’s womb itself. I loved acting since childhood. Used to play small and I used to be ahead for everything. Be it dancing, singing, giving speech, speaking or whatever, I used to top everything.

Dusty Peak was not opened for the character for weeks

Regarding the most challenging character of her career, she says, ‘Actually many years ago in 1988, I did a character called Kab Tak Pukaroon, that show was produced by me and Pankaj Kapur. In that, Pallavi Joshi and I played two wives of Pankaj Kapoor and my character’s name in that film was Pyaari, so I had to give a lot as an artist in that character. This happened because I am not from a village and I did not know how to play a village character, and yet playing the character, understanding the Rajasthani language was very challenging for me. Many times it used to happen that the braid of the hair would not be opened for a week or so, because the character had the requirement of a dusty little girl, it was necessary for the character to look real.’

did odd jobs for money

Talking about her struggles to survive in the industry, she says, ‘I never came to be a heroine. I used to do theater and then came to Mumbai because I needed work. I have never had any such struggle because I have never compromised on my life and things. If you want something then you struggle behind it that yes we have to reach there, but I had nothing like that. I came from a very humble family and art was close to my heart. We had to run the house and we did whatever work we could get to run the house, because we did not have the option. Many times it happened that he did small things for money but never compromised. I think we survived because we worked relentlessly without aspiration.’

flopped as a producer

Where more hard work is required in acting, direction, and production, but Sushmita says, ‘The most hard work has to be done to become a producer because it is not in our blood. We only look at work, not money and I think producers look at money first. I flopped as a producer because I could not produce and later had to return people’s money after doing a lot of work. In those days, our company had a loss of 1 crore because I did not know all that. I feel that work is not for me, so I left that work.

Presentation – Tanu Shukla