Actress Avantika Dasani wants to sculpt an identity of her own in the cinema world rather than be known just as the daughter of the famous actress Bhagyashree. She talks passionately about how she is building a varied body of work whether in South films (Nenu Student Sir), on OTT (Mithya) or in her forthcoming Hindi film Inn Galiyon Mein.
Excerpts from the interview:
In your OTT debut with Mithya, you had a strong, grey-shaded role, and now you seem to be playing a sweet girl next door in Inn Galiyon Mein… Which character is more like the real Avantika?
Honestly, both the characters are very different from who I am as a person. One quality which I do share with both Shabana of Inn Galiyon Mein and Rhea of Mithya is that we are all ziddi… if we set our mind on something, we go after it. I am a headstrong girl.
Is social media the pivot of Inn Galiyon Mein’s plot?
Inn Galiyon Mein shows the interactions between the characters in a gully in Lucknow. It’s about the influence of social media on people’s thinking and perception; and how misunderstandings on social media can cause a wedge between people. There’s also a societal angle and a bit of religious context to the whole romance drama. The story is about how two kids, played by Vivaan Shah and me, navigate through this.
Inn Galiyon Mein is based on Hindi novelist Vasu Malviya’s characters. Did you meet the writer?
The film has been written by his son, Puranvasu. He was often on the sets and I did a lot of workshops with him.
Are you into reading?
Yes, though I am not a voracious reader. I prefer non-fiction rather than fiction but it’s usually a mix of both. I recently read the 40 Rules of Love and When Breath Becomes Air… I finish a book every month or two.
You mentioned workshops… did that help director Avinash Basu explain your character to you?
I play a sabziwali from the gullies of Lucknow so I wanted to understand that space and setting and how it influences who my character is and how she makes her decisions. We sat down together and broke down the character. Doing workshops helped me understand where this girl comes from and her background.
Did Vivaan (Naseeruddin Shah’s son) and you connect over being born into film families?
No, we connected more about the work that we were doing. I met him for the first time during our script readings. I found him a very sweet co-actor and extremely knowledgeable about theatre, films and books. It would be very interesting with him and Jaaved (Jaaferi) sir constantly relating stories about actors from the ’60s and ’70s in Hollywood and Bollywood… I would love listening to them.
Was Jaaved Jaaferi forthcoming with tips?
He was the right amount. Whenever I would ask him for his help or guidance, he would definitely shed light on the matter. There was a sense of ease working with him because I know him from before… he knows mom and dad. And his children — Meezaan and Alvia — are social friends of mine.
Were you inspired by your mother, actress Bhagyashree, and always wanted to act?
I’ve always been inspired by her, that is for sure, but becoming an actress came in much later. I am a Juhu girl, however, I went for my undergraduate degree to London. I studied Business Management and Marketing, and on my return worked in corporate spaces. But I wasn’t entirely happy with what I was doing. There was always a bit of a creative keeda in me, a bit of a performative streak but I didn’t know that it would take the route to acting until I started doing acting workshops on the side just to experience and understand what it’s all about. That’s when I got a feel of the craft and how it can open doors up for you emotionally, mentally, physically to experience life in a very different light. And, that’s why I made the switch.
Since everyone in your family has had a tryst with films (father Himalaya played the leading man opposite Bhagyashree in a few 1990s films and brother Abhimanyu is an upcoming actor), do all you discuss films a lot at mealtimes?
We are a cinema-loving family. That’s exciting because whenever we watch a show or a movie, it becomes a shared conversation.
Do you all have a common favourite actor?
We are all big Amitabh Bachchan fans.
What was it like to make your debut in Telugu with Nenu Student Sir?
My Telugu film was me putting myself out of my comfort zone to hone myself as an actor and as an individual. I wanted to put myself to the test and that is definitely what it did. Whether its doing a Telugu film or doing Mithya on OTT or doing a different independent cinema, my idea is all about having more experiences, having more variety in the work environment and learning new things.
Tell us about standing up to a seasoned actress like Huma Qureshi in Mithya.
Huma is an absolute firecracker and I had a lot of fun on the set with her. Whether its her or Rajit Kapoor sir or Parambrata Chatterjee in Mithya or Jaaved sir or Ishtiyak Khan, they are all such phenomenal actors. As someone who is new and young, things can be easily uncomfortable or appear muddled for me but watching them constantly do their work so effortlessly… this was something that I picked up from all of them.
How ambitious are you?
That’s an interesting question. I am hungry to do good work. I like the idea of challenging myself… or rather I like feeling at the end: ‘Oh that was difficult but I got through it!’
