Bollywood actress Mayuri Kango, known for her role in 'Papa Kahte Hain', had a brief stint in the film industry. In an interview with Lehren, she opens up about gender dynamics in cinema, highlighting the male dominance in Indian films and reflecting on her own journey as an actress. Don’t miss this candid conversation where she discusses her career challenges and life as a Bollywood face.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00Indian films sadly are a man's medium. It is a man's game and that is the way our society functions.
00:08How much we want to deny it, it is a man's world.
00:10I am not an ambitious person at all. I am a person who just does what she is doing because she likes doing it.
00:17All you can do is be a good actor. Whether or not you are supposed to be a star is written in the stars. It's not in your hands.
00:23I have never really thought of becoming an actress. Since I really know what is what, I have been acting because my mother has been doing theatre for 25 years.
00:39It was before I was born. Since I was born, I have been doing theatre with my mother. I have been acting since I was a child.
00:46Whenever there was a small girl's role in her play, I used to do it. It was obviously like that.
00:52They were doing it on a very professional level. It wasn't a Ganpati show. It was a very professional theatre and that's where I learnt how to act I guess.
01:04My first film was Naseem. That happened accidentally. My mother was working in that film and the director saw me and convinced me to do that film.
01:14Then came Papa Kehta, which also happened to me. I was never wanting to be in Bombay or Bollywood for that matter.
01:20I was too young to even think about what I wanted to do. I was studying and generally planned a career of engineering and stuff like that.
01:27So I just ended up being here because I guess I was destined to be here.
01:32How has your journey been as an actress?
01:35See, generally what happens with everybody is they get into the line and they struggle to make it.
01:42I got in the other way. Before even knowing what it was all about, I was already there with a film which gave me a big name and hype
01:50which I was not able to understand at that point of time. You need a value.
01:54Then came the struggle for me. Films came but then whatever delays and stuff like that.
02:00So I learnt my lessons or I learnt whatever was to be learnt to make it here after doing a couple of films, not before doing them.
02:10So that is my journey of learning and understanding and valuing all the experiences came after a couple of releases.
02:17That's why today I know the value of the films that I am doing, which I initially didn't.
02:21Because for me they were just happening. They were happening to me. Now I value them because I know how important they are.
02:27How have you grown up as an actress?
02:30I wouldn't say. I mean that would be such a, I mean that would be too much.
02:37I would be talking too big for my boots. It's not done. I mean I have hardly done much.
02:41I have just been here and I need to do a lot more to say that I have grown as an actress or whatever.
02:46I can only say I am more experienced. I can't say I am better or I have done a lot.
02:51I hardly have done anything. I have to prove myself yet.
02:54Did you ever have a dream of being an actress?
02:57Like I told you, yeah I had a dream but my dream was never to be an actress because acting was a part of me.
03:03I was always acting. So to become an actress was nothing new to me.
03:07For me becoming an engineer or going to an MBA thing and having your own office in your factory, that kind of a thing was my dream.
03:13To own something, to be a corporate woman. That was my dream.
03:17Because acting was a part of my household. So becoming that was not a big thing for me.
03:22And you always brought up to realize that no matter what field you are in, it is just a job you are doing.
03:27So my dreams were never about becoming something. My dreams were about doing something.
03:32Like becoming corporate woman or travelling around the world or doing something.
03:35Not about becoming any actor, actress or anything like that.
03:39Yeah of course, I had a lot of icons. I was crazy about a certain heroine or a certain hero.
03:45At certain point of time, that's a teenage process which happens. I think it happens to me even now.
03:49It hasn't changed just because I am an actress now.
03:52What do you think when you see yourself on the screen?
03:56I always hate myself. I always think, oh I could have done better.
04:01I definitely could have done it better. But then you make excuses for yourself.
04:05At the end of it you say, next time if I get to do this, I am going to do it much better. That's about it.
04:10Well, how ambitious are you as an actress?
04:14I am not an ambitious person at all. I am a person who just does what she is doing because she likes doing it.
04:21I will not go to extents of anything to reach anywhere because I think it's very futile.
04:26And that's not just about my career. That's the way I deal with life.
04:29So, ambition is something I wouldn't get involved in. I love my job. That's why I am doing it. That's about it.
04:35What do you want to achieve as an actress?
04:38As an actress, I just want to set a standard for myself, not seeing anybody else.
04:43I don't want to be like anybody else. Not because anybody is less or anything.
04:48But I really don't think one can be like others. So I don't want to be like anybody else.
04:52I just want to know that when somebody sees me, they should say she has done a good job. That's it. That's about it.
04:57How do you handle competition in the film industry?
05:00See, I know the competition is very cutthroat. But it is also an actress.
05:04And how much I would like to be a part of it, I can't be. So I have my own way to deal with things.
05:10There are a lot of talented people here, a lot of them. And to each one, I guess after a point you get what you deserve.
05:18And all you can do is whatever you get, you give it your best. That is my only way of dealing with things.
05:23And I can't be a part of this. After a point, I can't be into a rat race kind of a thing.
05:28I would love to do a good job, but not at any cost. As I told you, I'm not very ambitious that way.
05:33I love good work. Cinema is my dream or whatever. It is my life.
05:38But I can't get petty enough to, you know, just climb the ladders and pull each other down.
05:43All that thing I can't get into. But I really. And there's so many talented people here, which is true.
05:48And there's very, in a couple of years, the films that are being made are very few.
05:53So I get the best one. The best one wins, I guess.
05:58As a heroine, if you're paired up with bigger names like Hrithik Roshan or Shah Rukh Khan,
06:04the career path often changes after that. How does that happen?
06:08Because Indian films, sadly, are a man's medium. It is a man's game and that is the way our society functions.
06:17How much we want to deny it, it is a man's world. So the more successful the man is,
06:23better it is to be paired with him because it is in their game. A heroine doesn't sell a territory, a man does.
06:29So the more successful the hero is, if you are paired with him, you are considered,
06:33that success is supposed to rub off on you somewhere, I guess.
06:36Have you ever put an effort to get a role opposite a bigger star?
06:40See, I can't think that way. I'm not made that way. I'm not saying it's right or wrong,
06:45but I don't believe in getting roles opposite somebody. I believe in getting films on my own,
06:51for my own good and because of my self-worth, not because of somebody else. I can't work like that.
06:57What does it take to become a star?
07:00I don't know. I wish I knew it because then I wouldn't be it, right?
07:04I guess it just works differently for different people. There's something, I don't know who quoted it,
07:10it says, all you can do is be a good actor. Whether or not you are supposed to be a star is written in the stars.
07:16It's not in your hands. It's really not in your hands. Because anything can happen.
07:20At any point of time, anybody can become a star. The same person who you thought was quite run-of-the-mill,
07:25all of a sudden starts looking like a star to you. This place is a crazy place.
07:29I mean, you can't really have any kind of, you know, saying, this is going to make, there's no formula to becoming a star.
07:36There are no formulas. It is just fluke. Other than that, it is determination and hard work.
07:41That everybody puts in because everybody wants to be successful and, you know, do good work.
07:46But it has to happen. It happens. It's just weird.
07:50When you think of success, what is the standard?
07:53As of, you talk about like current rate of success? What are you talking about?
07:58I have admired a lot of people's work, you know, like Vahida Rahman was, you know,
08:03when she did all those films with Gurudad. For me, that is the kind of work that I would want to do.
08:07You know, that is, that, or maybe, or a lot of Hollywood people, since you watch a lot of English movies nowadays,
08:13a lot of actresses there, you know, you feel like you should do work like them.
08:18So, or even today, when Kajol was doing her, Kajol, you know, she was doing such good films,
08:24or Manisha when she was doing certain films. So, there was always certain people who came and did really good work.
08:29So, for me, I would want to do work like that. And not that I don't, I think it's very low to measure people
08:35by the amount of hits or flops they give, or their current, what do you say, fan following.
08:40I think it's really cheap to look at people that way, especially if you are in that line.
08:44And you know how immaterial that is after a point. So, I only look at people's work and say that, you know, that is how I want to be.