It is perhaps no coincidence that two of my favourite people from the Hindi film industry Jaya Bachchan and Swara Bhasker are born on the same day. Of course, I’ve known Swara for a much shorter time… for obvious reasons! But in a very short span of time we’ve come to share a mutual warmth and respect for each other’s work and space, which I find to be a refreshing change from some of the clingy friendships from the past which have gone kaput because of excessive exuberance.
I first saw Swara on screen in my dear friend Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish where she had a walk-on part as a television anchor. Nothing there gave us any inkling of what was to come. Such unvarnished naturalistic performances in Tanu Weds Manu, Nil Battey Sannatta and specially Anaarkali Of Arrah.
From rape threats to being questioned about her loyalty to the country, Swara Bhaskar has learnt to expertly manoeuvre her way through the muck. She recently faced opulent online harassment for her interfaith marriage.
But Swara really couldn’t care less. “Social media should have been a platform that helped us connect across geographical and time and space borders. It was and in some ways is a beautiful possibility. However, we have as a society and I mean across the world used it to sink to our lowest selves and indulge our basest instinct- anonymous bullying and harassment. I’ve always believed that there is only one way to deal with bullies- call them out! That’s how I handle social media toxicity.”
Swara feels the original intent of social media has been diluted vitiated beyond repair. “Social media should have been a platform that helped us connect across geographical and time and space borders. It was and in some ways is a beautiful possibility. However, we have as a society and I mean across the world used it to sink to our lowest selves and indulge our basest instinct: anonymous bullying and harassment. I’ve always believed that there is only one way to deal with bullies: call them out! That’s how I handle social media toxicity. The mainstream news media today has become the most unreliable and irresponsible source of rabble rousing. When they are called out and their hate and bullying is held accountable they respond with trolling and more hate. But this is the pushback to hate from normal rational citizens. We must hold the media and the government accountable as citizens and as taxpayers.”
One saw Swara on screen for the first time in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish where she had a walk-on part as a television anchor. Nothing there gave us any inkling of what was to come. Such unvarnished naturalistic performances in Tanu Weds Manu, Nil Battey Sannata and specially Anaarkali Of Arrah.
For one’s money time and attention, Swara Bhaskar was the real Tanu, whether Manu likes it or not. Swara’s spontaneous, unrehearsed, seemingly uncomplicated interpretations of the most layered emotions is not only exemplary, it is a one-woman acting school on how not to like you are….well, acting.
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There are many sequences in the very oddly titled Nil Battey Sannata where Swara sweeps you into her character’s innermost world of melancholy and despair without making you drown in maudlinism. Playing a domestic help Chanda who dreams of making her stubborn spoilt bratty daughter Apeksha (Riya Shukla) into something bigger than destiny decrees for the poor, Swara delivers a virtuoso performance. She gets the minutest of Chanda’s feeling on screen without screaming for attention.
There is an honesty about Swara easily comfortably and fluently reflected on screen. In recent times, she has become a vocal opponent of vote politics and the politics of oppression. And if this means losing out on roles, so be it.
