Tanushree Says No to On Screen Kiss
Bollywood actress, Tanushree Dutta says breaking away from the confines of her small town helped realise her Bollywood dreams
Two films in two weeks – now that’s what being in business means. And Tanushree Dutta is lapping up every moment of her days now, touring the country to promote her films.
“I have a different look and role in each of my three forthcoming films. From a tomboy in Good Boy Bad Boy to the girl-next-door in Dhol and the negative character in Raqeeb, I have been given the opportunity to try out such diverse roles. I am really thankful to my directors and producers for that,” says Tanushree.
The former Miss India also claims that she is now consciously moving away from her ultra-glamourous look and looking for meaningful roles.
“Age is on my side and I feel this is the right time to experiment with different roles. That is why I did not hesitate to accept the negative character I play in Raqeeb.
With age, artistes develop set images which are sometimes difficult to break. So I am trying out a wide variety of roles at the moment,” she says.
Tanushree has also decided to abstain from any more intimate scenes in her films. “It’s a strict no-no as far as on-screen kissing or lovemaking scenes are concerned.
During the kissing scene in Chocolate, I was very unwilling to do it and even wanted to quit the film because of it. But I was convinced by the director that the scene was integral to the film’s plot and so I agreed. And later, it was just chopped off.
So what was the need for me to enact that scene? That incident was my first learning experience in Bollywood. Although Aashiq Banaya Aapne also had a kissing scene, it was necessary to the film’s plot, so I don’t regret doing it.
But I felt really bad when I was watching the film with my family. I come from a very conservative background, no one in my family is a filmstar and for them to accept those bold scenes was tough. So I have now decided that I will not do any scene which will offend the sensibilities of my family,” says Tanushree.
Hailing from the small town of Jamshedpur, Tanushree believes that she has taken a quantum leap in achieving what she has today.
“I did my schooling there, but shifted to Pune for my senior school and college, though I did not finish my college education. In hindsight, moving out of Jharkhand was the best move of my life.
I always had such high expectations from life and people in that protective environment just thought that I was dreaming beyond possible horizons.
But I had a lot of faith in myself and that has helped me a lot,” reminisces Tanushree. She also takes the criticism that her acting and personal styling have faced in her stride.
“I am learning, give me time. When I first came here, I did not even know how to put on lipstick properly. But I have progressed and try to improve my way of dressing and make-up all the time.
I have not been blessed with a makeover the way, say, Manish Malhotra did for Karisma Kapur. I know my personal wardrobe has ample scope for improvement, but I have learned a lot more about styles and the latest trends than when I first joined this industry,” says Tanushree.
Though she is open to having a personal stylist, Tanushree says no one has approached her yet! She is also confident that she will find her niche in Bollywood without the help of any godfather.
“I will not deny that it is great if you have a godfather in this industry in that it makes the path a little smooth. But there is no sweat if there is no one. Talent and hard work ultimately pat handsome dividends in this line.
And I am confident that I will be able to make it. Initially my parents were not happy with my decision to join films. We had frictions and debates on this issue.
“Very few people from Jharkhand and certainly no one from my family are in Bollywood and my parents had other dreams for me. My dad wanted me to be an MBA and my mom wanted me to be an IAS officer.
But when they saw how hard I tried to excel in Bollywood, how I did not let failures bog me down, they gave in and realised that this is what I am destined to be. Today my parents are my biggest critics and drive me to excel,” says the happy daughter.
Apart from Bollywood, Tanushree is open to working in regional films as well, and says that she is willing to give Bengali films a try, if she gets a good script and good banner to promote the film.
“See, I am a director’s actor. I am dependent on the director to extract the best performance out of me. And a good banner is a must because a film needs to be promoted. So, I have no qualms about working in regional films.
“But at the moment, I am keeping my fingers crossed that my forthcoming Hindi films do well and people appreciate all the hard work I, and my whole team, have put into the making,” says Tanushree, as she rushes off to catch a flight to another city to promote her films.