Swara Bhaskar

Swara Bhaskar started her acting career with the 2009 film Madholal Keep Walking, which was screened at the 33rd Cairo International Film Festival, after she moved to Mumbai from her place of birth, Delhi.

She then took critics by surprise when she appeared in Srinivas Sunderrajan’s black and white thriller The Untitled Kartik Krishnan Project, India’s first mumblecore film. It was low budget movie and was screened at the Transilvania International Film Festival. Even though the movies did not do well on box office commercially, it did not deter her from moving closer to the Filmfare awards.

The movie which got her widespread recognition was 2011’s commercially successful film Tanu Weds Manu in which she played the role of Payal. Since then, she kicked off the limits and now there is no stopping.

“Films lasts forever. When I’m dead, someone would come and pick out my work from the archives. And I don’t want to look like an idiot when I’m dead!”

Bhaskar never conformed to the damsel-in-distress roles of Bollywood. Born to Ira Bhaskar, Professor of cinema studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University, she watched her mother research on cinema dated back to 1930s from the National Archives during her childhood. She believes movies leave a lasting impression on the audience and hence she always chooses quality cinema.

The distinction between art and commercial cinema has become less wider in recent times. A gripping story line and strong acting is what gravitates the viewers in 2016 and her critical acclaim for movies like Nil Battey Sannata is an example.

“My first red carpet appearance was traumatic.”

The Master of Sociology from JNU, Bhaskar, is not a paparazzi-friendly person and she is not shy to admit about it! It took a while for her to learn how to ‘behave’ like a celebrity – hiring a PR team, make up artist, and plan the red carpet apparel.

Her recent venture into the digital space ‘It’s that simple’, a six episode web series, was showcased on Voot.

Her experiment with digital content brought her lot of fame. The story revolves around a female protagonist, Meera, her idea of marriage and unfulfilled desires.

Swara Bhasker is a path-breaker, does what she feels is right, speaks her mind and pays no heed to rumors and that’s what makes her a Feministaa!

Stay tuned for Part II of the interview next week!