Deepti Naval is an accomplished actress, photographer, writer and now a director. We were keen to talk to her about her journey and how she seamlessly changes her roles. She comes across as a warm person with an infectious laughter.
She is all for technology but also feels let down by it. She feels cheated when she sees unkind videos of her on the web. She wants to fight a battle for this. The OpenHaus team met her at the Jaipur Literature Festival where she was doing a reading from her book “The Mad Tibetan”.
Throughout our conversation, she is approached by many fans and she politely responds to each of them with the same affection but at the same time she lives in a world of her own, in which she just leaves everything and goes wandering for peace in Ladakh.
Q. You don a lot of hats, how do you recognise yourself personally as to what you are?
I do not want to be identified only as a photographer, filmmaker, writer, painter or an actress. I wish to be called a true creative person, come what may. That’s the title or logo I would like to inherit. A creative person who painted, who wrote poems and stories, acted and also made films. That is how I wish to be remembered.
Q. Do you ever feel that you are devoting your time to the other art at the cost of the one you are best at? Does it perplex you that you are not concentrating on movies anymore?
I think I have an answer to this and this is a very valid question applicable to all artists indulging in various creative works; that would you want to excel at one art form or you would explore more of other art forms. To tell you, the first four years of my career I was a very excited person as I was working full time and then I realised I was being asked to do the same kind of roles over and over again and I thought I would stagnate. I was truly not growing. I would leave home on time, reach studio, wear the same make up and go out doing the same kind of acting at which I had already proven myself. The moment I spotted that, I simply backed off and decided I wanted to do other things with my life. I also have only one life to live and this time would not come again. I wanted time to read, to paint, to write as I am gifted with all the requisites. God has blessed me with so many talents. I can’t abuse any of these talents.
bells at wayside temple, gwaldham, Garhwal
So I started going to work and in between the shots I picked up paper and pen initially and later on my laptop, and started writing things I wanted to. I was writing poetry when I was in college in New York. So poetry came early to me when I was only a child. Instead of repeatedly doing mundane things in the movies I chose to do things that enriched me, satisfied me, and enhanced me as a person.
Answering about where do I get time to do things that excite me, I would say instead of doing 7 films in a year where I get to do almost similar roles I would choose to do 3 films with a variety of roles and rest of the time I would dedicate to my creative pursuits. I can attend festivals like the Jaipur Literature Festival, can go to New York and attend workshops I want to or I can just pick up my camera and go to places I have always wanted to see as a child and an adult. As a result, I am not as popular an actor as I could have been but I am a far more fulfilled and balanced human being.
Q. Is there a part of you that tells you, you are more than what you do at a given point of time?
The Mad Tibetan
No, it just tells me that I am an artist; I have to be creative at all the times. If I don’t get one medium satisfactory enough and I have time by my side I will use another medium to express myself. But I speak through my work. That’s what it is.
Q. At your talk during the Jaipur Literature Festival 2012, you were telling about how this whole process of writing started for you, especially your book. So like your book was your discovery as an actress also a gradual process or an eureka moment?
It was in Amritsar, while I was a kid; I knew I will grow up to be an actress someday. I met Mr. Balraj Sahni when I was 9 and I had already decided to become an actress when I was 7, so meeting him kind of rekindled and re-enforced what was already cooking in my mind.
Q. It is very fascinating to know that you actually grew up to become what you always dreamt of, which is unfortunately not the case with most people.
I think I am blessed. I feel I truly have accomplished more than I was destined to achieve. I feel humble. I have seen people not becoming what they always wanted to. I got more than my share. I have got much more out of my life, but I think I also designed my life this way. I connived to get what all I have now.
| Anurag, one of our team members wanted to share an experience of his with Deepti. It was an interesting conversation, a convoluted story based on a story from her new book – The Mad Tibetan. The transcript below A: One thing I wanted to share was you wrote a story about your friend “D” Daman (from Mad Tibetan). Something happened right opposite to that with me. So, I encountered a friend whom I knew hundred percent, who he was and all. D: And he did not recognise you? A : No, he spoke to me and he asked me ‘Do you remember me’ and for some god forsaken reason, that moment I said ‘No’ and that still hurts me, like it hurts you to say that you did not remember the name of your friend. I think only Freud will be able to tell why I did that because I out rightly said no to him, when I remembered everything about him. D. (Concerned) Were you lying to him? A: Yes, but sub-consciously D: Why did you lie, was that one upmanship? A: No, absolutely not, he was a wonderful guy, I have no idea why I did that. That particular moment something happened to me and I am clueless why I said that. D: Oh, that’s another story. You please write from that perspective now. My moment is very simple but yours is a rather interesting. It is one of those convoluted moments of life. Did you friend offend you in school sometime and was this you way of getting back at him? A: No, probably psychoanalysis can only answer this question but I still feel bad about it. |
Q. Which vertical of your work did you find most difficult? Any area where you actually have to drive yourself, where you have to constantly remind yourself that you have to do better than what you have done.
I believe direction is a challenge. But I feel writing a poem is hardest because you bare yourself. The whole world is out there to judge you. You expose yourself and shout out loud ‘Look this is what I am’. Film is a camouflage. There is a subject, you can blame the script for not have been written properly, the director for not crafting your role better. There can be thousand excuses behind which you can hide as an actor. But as a writer you have no place to hide but your own skin.
Q. Your initial years in the movies were what were probably the golden era of the Bombay film industry. Now after so many years how do you see that phase of your life? If you look at the Indian film industry and the kind of films that both Basu (Bhattacharya) Da and Hrishikesh Mukherji made, the quality of those movies were extraordinary. As an outsider, we feel in those times actors like Farooq Sheikh, Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil and all other actors had an outstanding chemistry with each other.
Oh, what a time it was! We had Hrishikesh Mukherji and Basu Da, and the characters they created where so easily identifiable. You feel they are a part
summer room after the fire, Chandravali House, Amritsar
of your family and neighborhood. It was a great time to be around some remarkably good actors and directors. Farooq Sheikh, Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah we all were a great team. When I look back I feel how significant that era was. But I also feel we have somehow ceased to talk about those maestros. We go on talking about ourselves endlessly, who will talk about them? So I have decided to make my association with these masters unforgettable by penning their stories in my memoirs.
Basu Bhattacharya was my godfather. He was truly a friend, guide and a philosopher. He was just a call away at any give point in time. I would call him, cry and crib about every little problem that I had with the roles, any article in the magazine or any professional problem that disturbed me about another co-star etc. He would calmly say, “You are an artist, a true gem, you have to shine through all this muck and stand crystal clear. Lot will be written, lot will be painful, you still have to work hard with the same dedication and stay afloat.” I miss his company a lot.
Hrishi Da would say “Deepu don’t run back to America, you have a place in this industry, stick around, I will make films with you.” And he made a couple of films with me.
Q. How was it then to be back from New York, working in the Bombay film industry that is claustrophobic and then eventually settling down here and also moulding you accordingly.
(Laughing) Oh, that’s a book material. I am not going to give too much of myself in an interview. I need to hold back few things to put it in the book. It’s not right to ask writers so many questions, I would not be left with any material for my book.
You are dedicating your new film to the legendary actor late Mr. Dev Anand…
I shared a great bond with Dev sahib. I love him, totally. I have always loved him. He was one year junior to my father at college in Lahore. There was so much to learn from him. In fact, there still is so much to learn from his life. His absence has created a big void in the industry. At times, I would just go and sit at his office, chat with him about various things related to movies and life.
Q. Please tell us about your upcoming projects
My movie “Do Paise Ki Dhoop Chaar Aane Ki Baarish” is something that is close to me and its taking up most of the time.
I am also in the process of speeding up my spiritual journey that started 13 years ago at vipassana. My spiritual self says ‘Ok, you have hated someone, now you have to outgrow that moment’ and I have outgrown all those moments.
Then there are a lot of files lying around, which are going to be a part of the memoirs, when I choose to pen them, maybe a couple of years down the line. But again this will not be an out and out mushy memoir about me, it will be an honest one.
Q. How has technology helped you in your writings?
I love technology and it is my constant companion from mobile phones to laptops to DSLRs. But one thing constantly shakes my belief in technology. I feel so let down by technology every time when I try to type ‘Deepti Naval’ on the web and by default I get ‘Deepti Naval’s hot kiss in Freaky Chakra’. I will fight a battle for that, because I demand a censorship. It undoes all the good and hard work I have done as an artist for more than 3 decades. It humiliates me. Except for that I am overdone with hate and resentment.
Pic courtesy: www.deeptinaval.com
Cover Pic: Taniya Sahni