Swastika Mukherjee plays tough, challenging roles on-screen. Be it in Paatal Lok or Qala, her screen presence is contagious and her dialogue delivery is smooth and flowy. She will again grace the screens in the upcoming Hoichoi series Nikhoj where she is playing the role of a distraught mother whose daughter goes missing. In the series, Tota Roy Choudhary also plays a solid role. In a talk with Hindustan Times, Swastika opened up about her character as the trailer of Nikhoj went live. From divulging details about her character in the show to answering questions regarding Aishwarya Rai, Swastika, in detail, explained everything with composure.
Excerpts from the interview here:
On being asked how she picks the strong roles, something which she has always been seen in, Swastika replies saying, “I don’t do roles which aren’t strong and I dig my own grave (laughs). I always try to do something I have not done before this is how you see me playing a cop for the first time in Nikhoj. I am as CDP lalbazar Brinda Basu.”
“This role is especially challenging because I am playing a single mother. I had to maintain a balance between being a mother and a cop. I kept asking my director if my mother part was becoming overwhelming. Women naturally as mothers, tend to think by our heart; our mother mode is always on”, she added.
Swastika was asked how she prepared for the role, to which she said that she has never had to prepare for playing a mother. “I have completed 23 years in the industry. At the beginning of my career, I played a mother to a 10-year-old at 21. My focus has always been performance. I played a 60-year-old at 31. I have experimented with everything. So, things like ‘I will not play a mother or an aunt’ was never really a concern.”
In Nikhoj, Swastika would be seen using the F-word and other cuss words at times when a lot of celebrities have talked about censorship on OTT platforms. Sharing her thoughts on the same, she said, “I am not in favour. Let me use the word. You should allow what is coming naturally. Not just the F-word it can be anything, even a love-making scene between two adults, you can show it the way it is supposed to be. For how long you can fake a kiss or flowers? Let the people behave in real life. The F-word really helped me to control my anger in the scenes. I told my director either I use this word or you let me slap someone. He said he will let me beat up people in the second season.”
Chokher Bali, which starred many popular faces, had set Swastika Mukherjee in a different league after her performance in Mastan. The film featured Aishwarya Rai and Swastika, recalling memories of the 2003 film, Swaskita said, “Yes, I wore such nice clothes and decked up in jewellery. It was my second trip to Benaras and we stayed in a 5-star. Nowadays with so much of a budget crunch, actors just go and shoot for their number of days and come back. 23 years back, we used to go and stay there for a longer period of time. I saw the process of Rituparno Ghosh’s work; a life-changing experience.”
On being asked if she remembers Aishwarya Rai, Swastika immediately said, “Yes, she was there. I remember I had gone (to her) and checked her jeans.” A candid yet curious Swastika answered why. “To see the size of her jeans because I couldn’t believe you can actually be that thin and wear adult clothes. I realised my waist was just 2 inches bigger than hers. I was like ‘It’s fine. I can reach there. It was my goal to have a waist like that. It’s interesting how you can find motivation from random spaces. I came back home and told my mom that my waist needs to be 26 inches. I would have to do everything in my power to get it.”
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