Bhotbhoti Turned personal experiences into reality to play Ariel in Bhotbhoti: Bibriti Chatterjee
Young actor Bibriti Chatterjee plays mermaid Ariel in Tathagata Mukherjee's film Bhotbhoti, which releases Aug 11. Ahead of the film's release, India Blooms correspondent Souvik Ghosh catches up with Bibriti
Q. You started your career as a model and then turned into Veejay. How did you come to films?
A. I started my career as a model. Then all I wanted to do was films. That was my ultimate goal from my childhood days. I remember getting an offer for a daily soap, which I had initially turned down. I was not interested in serials because of the hectic schedules backed by my lack of confidence in speaking fluent Bengali. I agreed to do the daily soap after getting fascinated by the regular process of makeup et al for Veejaying.
Q. Tell us one thing that helped you to pull off the character in Bhotbhoti.
A. I am a pensive person. I consider myself as someone who speaks in a complex language. Emotions are complex. For Bhotbhoti, I was turning my personal experiences into reality and trying to make it work in front of the camera because our director never gave us any access point for Ariel or any other character. The director asked us to do whatever to make the character believable. I remember turning weird emotions into expressions.
Image Credit: Avishek Mitra/IBNS
Q. Tathagata gave you full freedom to play this character. Did that help you more?
A. Of course the skeleton of the character was provided by Tathagata. He has given us guidance. Though Ariel is very different from me, I have tried to connect to the character. Unlike me, Ariel is very comprehensive, reserved and speaks through her eyes.
Q. How are you as a person?
A. I am an introvert though people consider me as an extrovert. There are very selective days when I laugh a lot, that too for a few minutes within a closed circle. I have my moments of chirpiness. Apart from that, I am a very lazy, laid back person (laughs).
Q. You are in the growing phase of your career. What kind of expectations do you have from Bhotbhoti professionally?
A. I think Bhotbhoti will help me to redeem myself to an extent from the notion, which some people have, that I cannot act. On the other hand, I feel people should know that being in this profession does not just mean wearing particular clothes, posing as a fashionista or roam around as a showstopper on the red carpets.
With this movie, I would want to make people understand that I am in the midway between being a casual dresser and a showstopper. But the dress should not be tagged with the work I do on screen.
Image Credit: Facebook/ Bibriti Chatterjee
I want the audience to take me as an actor who can dance around the trees and pull off some serious, meaty roles. I don't want people to have the notion that I can only wear fancy clothes, look glamorous and pose.
Q. Do people's opinions, online trolling affect you?
A. I would be lying if I say it doesn't affect me. Afterall, I am a human being. I have volatile emotions. It affects if people, who matter to me, say certain things.
I don't get affected by the general opinion because people do not have any knowledge of what I do or who I am. Only a few people know me well.
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