Read the full story here:
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00When you feel broken and we all feel broken at times, one is not hesitated to reach out, to ask for help, to say that hey I am broken right now, I am vulnerable right now, I don't feel good about myself right now and the minute you say it, you feel a great sense of relief.
00:24Perfect.
00:24Okay.
00:25How are you doing?
00:27I am doing well, very well. You are in exotic Morocco I am told.
00:31Yes and it's a film festival, I love film festivals Pooja.
00:35Lovely.
00:36It's the only time where people don't talk about box office and lame stuff. It's almost about the movie, they care about it, they talk about their character and it's about the work and their craft which is so amazing.
00:47That's true.
00:48I think that's brilliant.
00:48That is true.
00:49Yes.
00:50That is true.
00:51Listen, so you are going to be there at an acting workshop. We will start with a very basic. Can acting be taught? Because I feel writing can't be but you need to tell me, can the craft be taught?
01:04I believe the craft can be taught but the feeling cannot be taught. You know, so I think that what I am going in to do, I think that first of all it's very interesting that Moonlight Films is organising this workshop in Dubai
01:17because I feel that you know the generosity that Dubai has always shown to Bollywood and the arts has been overwhelming over the decades you know and it's not only Indians, I think it's of course Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis but people from across the globe who kind of somewhere collectively celebrate Bollywood and the arts.
01:38I mean not only Bollywood, films from India in particular whether they are Malayalam films, Tamil films, Telugu films you know I mean they celebrate them. That has a lot to do with you know the government who kind of has created this kind of safe haven for friendship, for love, for the arts to thrive and like you just mentioned that it's so glorious to be at a film festival where it's not box office but the arts being discussed.
02:01Yes.
02:02I think it's amazing that one can come to a space and then you know not have to worry about are we meant to work together or not meant to work together because it's just a safe haven for people who come together with the right intent to then just thrive if the intention is right.
02:15Correct.
02:16So where I come in is I feel that we have lots and lots and lots of acting classes and courses.
02:22We do.
02:24But what they're not being taught, what people who have aspirations for the industry are not being taught are what happens after you finish your course and before you actually get the privilege of standing in front of a camera.
02:39In terms of acting courses in India and outside India, I found that there might be lots of people to teach you the craft but there are not enough people who can tell you how to navigate the times between jobs, you know between getting your diploma and getting your first job.
02:59After having gotten your first job to your second film, I mean I've been in this business for 34 years now and each time you start all over again.
03:11So I come in on the last day to basically tell people how to deal with rejection, how to celebrate their failures, how to flower during that wintering phase that an artist has to always endure because what we have to do is show grace when there is no work, when you're waiting for that phone to ring and you know when they say out of work actor, everyone is always an out of work actor.
03:38Ranbir Kapoor famously said that I'm out of work right now, you know this was after his biggest hit Animal and he was waiting for his next movie to start.
03:46So between jobs we are all out of work and I think Jim Morrison famously put it and said you know an actor out of role.
03:54So I think that we are constantly looking for what's next, what's next but the work really happens in that waiting.
04:02So I'm coming in to tell people that hey you have teachers who will teach you diction, you learn to dance, you learn to act but who is going to teach you to endure your failures with grace.
04:16Who is going to ask, teach you to kind of ride that period of nothingness with joy, that's where I come in and that's where 34 years come into play because as they say Manjula that there are many seasons in
04:30you know the life of an artist, four seasons to be precise. One is when they say oh he or she has got potential, second is when they say she or he has arrived, then they say oh she or he is over and then they say oh she or he is back.
04:47So having endured all four seasons, I think that I'm here to kind of guide people who come in for, some of them might not even want to be actors, they might just want to come and open up.
04:58They want to come to a safe space where they want to express themselves.
05:03To tell them that you are not alone, that uncertainty is something that every artist must kind of hold close to them and our uncertainties are what make us what we are.
05:14To embrace our failure, to embrace our imperfection in a world that is obsessed with perfection.
05:20You know, I mean look at Instagram or look at social media, everything has to be perfect but in front of a camera, why does a camera love a certain face and not love a certain face?
05:30It's got nothing to do with perfection, it's got to do with an inner light and that inner light shines brightest when you have seen the lows of life.
05:39You think so but Pooja, isn't entertainment industry the most arbitrary industry ever?
05:45Because like you said, engineering degree, you are armed with it, somewhere if you are very good with numbers, your work, you somehow find success.
05:52With entertainment, there's no guarantee right?
05:55And also with access, it's all about knowing the right people.
05:59Does an acting workshop, I know you said you're almost like a creative therapist but how do you tell these kids that you know, there's a good chance you may not make it?
06:10I feel it's one of the most like.
06:12Exactly like you said, there's a greater chance you will not make it and that's the truth.
06:17Which is why you know 90% of the world sits in the audience and it's that very slim section that has the gall to come up there and stand on stage and try even though there's a great chance you're not going to make it.
06:33What do you think makes you like a good teacher, is it because I was watching one of the reels you did for this just to get people in, saying that anguish of being a tormented artist is unparalleled, do you enjoy that trauma in some way?
06:49Do you like say, you know what let me embrace it, I'm going to feel unsure about who I am, whether people will like me, I might crave, does that work for you, is that your?
06:59Well, I think we are living in times where everybody is traumatised, some people are just better at covering it up than not you know and I think the advantage that we artists have is that we can go and at least in front of the camera, we can turn on the tap and we can let out all our demons and we can cry and we can rant and you might not have that privilege in your job or in a corporate environment where you got to be in control and you got to show that you are above everything.
07:22So as an artist you get the opportunity to be able to go out there and be vulnerable and be affected and then allow that to kind of be channelised in front of the camera so it is a gift, at the same time I think that getting used to hearing no also makes you very tough, so I think that you know it's a strange, it's like a baby, you look at a little baby but when that baby holds on to your finger, you feel the strength in that baby's hand
07:51and I think that's what an artist really is, you know I think that we should know exactly when to scream and shout like a newborn baby to get the attention and get what we want and we should hold on to the finger and remember that the grip is there but never forget that we are vulnerable, we are meant to be containers of feeling, we are meant to have access to our emotion and if you are going to live in a world where you are going to be only obsessed with yourself, then people are not going to be obsessed with you.
08:17Yes, okay.
08:18That's so interesting you say it, I thought all actors are narcissistic and you are supposed to be even journalists, you are supposed to be self-centered, loving ourselves more than anybody else.
08:27To a point yes but I think that this kind of you know this whole propagation of self-love as we know it today is not the way I see it, I mean I think self-love means nothing if you can't sit alone in a room by yourself with your failures.
08:43If you are too terrified to sit on your own without your phone and without having 25 people acknowledging you or validating you, then what is the point of that self-love, so I think that what's exciting in 2025, I have an exciting show coming up which should be releasing soon in which I am playing a very important role and it's with a wonderful director called Rohan Kambati and it's called Nanda Devi with Sunil Shakti and Jugal Handra, Junaid and Chandrathur is in the show as well.
09:13You asked me earlier how are you a good teacher, I am a good teacher because I am still a student and I will never stop being a student.
09:19Yeah, you are the eternal student. Poojas, many people will perceive you as a privileged person, I mean you were born into an acting family, therefore you had access I would say, would you be able to understand an outsider's point of view, like the ones who might attend your classes may not have any connections right, like a Taha Shah for instance, I don't know if he has got rich dad but he is not from an acting family.
09:41Do you look at it as a plus that you come from a place of privilege?
09:46Yes and no, because first of all it's a myth that you have to know somebody and you have to be related to somebody, we have the greatest superstar of I think the region, Shah Rukh Khan, an absolute outsider, an absolute outsider with no connections at all, so I think that myth gets debunked right there, number one.
10:07Secondly, my father when I did my first, first of all I had no desire to be an actor, I wanted to be an astronaut, I was not interested in acting because I had the privilege of seeing people like Smita Patil, Shabana Azmi, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Sudhir Mishra, Raj Kiran, Kumar Gaurav, Sanjay Dutt growing up, Deepti Nabal and I saw their lives so close and I knew how tough it was to be an actor, how difficult it was to be in the movies, how glamorous it looks from the outside,
10:38but what it takes to pay the electricity bill every month, what it takes to make sure that my school fees are paid, I saw my parents struggle to bring me up, you know, so I don't take anything for granted, we have worked hard, my father had no money when I was born, his legacy to me, my inheritance is a letter he wrote me when I was born on the parapet of our old building and it said, you were born at a time when I am a nobody and I have no money,
11:05some say your mother will bought me luck, some say you will, so where is the privilege, he was a man who had a father who made 100 movies but his father did not give him a break, his father said you go out there and you get a job on your own, Mr. Raj Khosla gave Mahesh Bhatt a chance to come on to a set and work as an assistant director, not Nana Bhatt you know and my father told me very clearly, when he offered me daddy, I said I am not sure I want to act,
11:32he said okay, I am giving you 24 hours, think about it, and he said listen, I am not interested in launching you, I have a script where the protagonist is a 17 year old girl and I feel that you have the body type and you have the vibe that will suit this character,
11:50Pooja, if you are not going to be good, I am going to be the first one to tell you because I am not going to give the world that privilege of telling you that you are not an actor,
12:01so he said if you are not good, I am going to throw you out, and when I went on to that set, everybody on that set, I had known since I was probably this high,
12:11so whether it was the spot boys or the lighting guys, they were all looking at me and saying, tomorrow we will know if he knows how to act or not, you know what I mean, so the pressure is much higher, I think Abhishek Bachchan for example,
12:26is an underrated actor, a very fine actor, such an amazing actor, he is a good looking man, he is a thorough gentleman, he is so articulate, he is a fine actor,
12:39you think it's easy being Amitabh Bachchan's son and handling things with such grace,
12:44that's worked against him more than anything, I mean that's my personal opinion,
12:48so exactly, so I think that yes, it might get you through the door, it might get people in to the theatre to see, what is Mahesh Bhatt's daughter like or what is so and so's daughter like,
13:00but if that person cannot act, the audience is going to reject you, so I think whenever we have these conversations, I feel that we do the audience a great disservice,
13:12because till today, when I meet people who tell me that hey, we grew up watching Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahi, you are our first crush, are you telling me that all those people are fools,
13:24all those people were kind of manipulated to tie their childhood memories to me,
13:30yeah, exactly,
13:31you know I mean, just because Alia got launched by Karan Johar, not by Mahesh Bhatt,
13:38but you think that the world would be a better place if Alia Bhatt had never become an actor,
13:43don't you think that you would be denied of some great performances if she had not become an actor,
13:48and the national obsession that my niece is today, people are so interested in every move of hers, she's just barely turned 2,
13:56that's a bit disturbing as a mother of 3,
13:58yeah, so my point is who is obsessed, who is obsessed, whether my niece decides to become an actor,
14:05or become an astronaut, or become a scientist, or become the Prime Minister of this country, time will tell.
14:11That's so interesting, no, no, no, I get your point of view, yes,
14:14you know, I mean, to be fair, there are a lot of people who might not even have the access, but let me tell people something,
14:23even I don't have the access today, just because I am Pooja Bhatt and I might know everybody in the industry,
14:29it does not mean I can pick up the phone and just walk into anybody's office, you know,
14:34that's why I said with every film you start all over again, every movie you start all over again and you feel oh I am back to being a newcomer,
14:42but that's the joy of this business as well, but you got to go with the times, you got to embrace ageing,
14:49you got to embrace the changes that your body is going to undergo with time, and you got to know who you are,
14:56if you know who you are, you will be cool even at 82, if you don't know who you are,
15:02you are not cool even at 19 with the hottest body in the world.
15:05And as a producer, I have to ask you this, you are very, you know, I am sure you are not just woke for the sake of being woke etc.
15:14I come from Malayalam film industry, like I watch that, I am from Kerala,
15:17there is a huge conversation about are producers being posh compliant,
15:21are they being sensitive and people are being called out every day in all the industries,
15:27as a producer what do you think we should do differently to sensitize,
15:31people even don't know if you are being harassed actually, or this casual sexism on the set,
15:35forget being proposition, that is like very obvious, but the casual, like oh you know,
15:40women are meant to, how are you doing it as a producer, what do you think should be done right?
15:45Well, I think that you know, I mean first of all, I handpicked my crew to make sure that you know
15:51women on my set are exceedingly comfortable, I mean I have worked with some of the most beautiful
15:55women, Bipasha Basu, I introduced Sunny Leone to India, I have worked with Eileen Haman who was
16:01a South African model who worked with Irfan Khan on Rogue and I think one thing that they all told
16:06me without exception was that man this set feels so comfortable, you know where they can walk
16:11around in their bikini and people are really not interested in looking at them, they are more
16:14interested in saying ma'am would you like us to give you a dressing gown so you can cover up and
16:18can we kind of you know light up the shot and none of that happens and I think that there is no
16:24denying that there is sexism, there is no denying that there is exploitation and I know it doesn't
16:32kind of soften it by saying but that happens in every area of life, the point is that it does
16:39happen here but there are even more cases where it does not happen here.
16:43The fear of being denied work often you don't like if your boss thing you often wonder will I be
16:50fired, will the HR fire me as well you know you never know, you get penalised.
16:55I understand that, I understand that, I understand that but I'm saying is that all of us know where
17:01to draw a line, all of us know how far we're willing to go, all of us know how much respect we
17:07can kind of disrespect we can take or not take rather so I think that we need to ask ourselves
17:12is this worth it, is the goal worth it, is it worth it to put myself through this trauma and feel
17:19like a you know person who's got no value and is only being used as a commodity to be able to
17:25achieve that and if your answer is yes then you have to live with the demons that will emerge later.
17:32You have done so well Pooja, I can't thank you enough and you know what I think you have a
17:36career in being a shrink, I would love to be on that couch with you, you can be my shrink.
17:43I'm happy, I'm very happy to be lying on a couch with somebody with not one but 20 shrinks to kind
17:48of try and tell me because my father and me were having a laugh about it just the other day and
17:53saying isn't it a miracle that me and you have not been kind of put into a straitjacket and
17:58taken away you know by now, how have you managed to kind of go through life. I guess the way we
18:03have is because if you feel vulnerable when you feel broken and we all feel broken at times
18:11one is not hesitated to reach out to ask for help to say that hey I'm broken right now,
18:18I'm vulnerable right now, I don't feel good about myself right now and the minute you say it
18:26you feel a great sense of relief but it's this covering up of I'm okay, I'm good, I'm great,
18:32I'm fine, I'm happy. You're not. Stop projecting something that you're not, that's where I come from.
18:39You're like Thomas Elfriedman, I don't know he came to Pune, he said I learned more from you
18:44students, I'm like you're a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, what are we supposed to teach you,
18:49he's like you'll be surprised and he's such a he's an observer of life, that's what he said,
18:54observing and thank you so much Pooja for your precious time, I know yeah we are running out
19:00of time as well but thank you so much and thank you for taking time off from this exotic beautiful
19:06festival that you're at to have a chat with me. No, no it's my pleasure. I don't know when you're going to be back in Dubai by the time I'm there but if you are I'd love to see you.
19:13I'll put the word out there before that you know so that people buy tickets and you know and just attend your
19:19class because you know what I think sometimes it's not just about acting, it's about life and
19:22you seem to have figured at least some of it, not all of it. I'm sure but you're a fun one. Thank you so
19:29much for this. Thank you. We'll put the word out there. You take care and have a great day.
19:34December 8th, December 8th for a heart to heart. No, no acting classes, life, life, life. We talk about life.
19:40We talk about life lessons. I won't miss that for the world and I'll be there as well to see you.
19:45All right, okay. You take care. Thank you so much. Bye.