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Pallavi
Joshi donned the greasepaint for movies at the tender age
of three. Now in her early thirties, she is disillusioned
with the kind of TV roles coming her way.
Not surprisingly, she is content doing just one TV serial
at a time. Her main preoccupation these days is the production
company she has set up with husband Vivek. Acting runs in
her genes. Her natural progression in the medium was not surprising
considering that her parents and brother were established
actors in their own right. Pallavi's portrayal of a traumatized
girl who becomes pregnant after being raped while in coma
in Alpviram
should rank as one of the best TV performances till date.
Pallavi has already completed 28 years in the medium- an amazingly
long innings for someone so young. Indiantelevision.com correspondent
Amar met her at her Andheri office and found
her all charged up about her new role as producer. Acting,
needless to say, will always remain her first love. Excerpts
from the conversation:
How did you get into acting?
My family has always been in the medium. My parents have been
theatre artistes and my brother, Alankar, was quite a well
known child actor. So for me it has been a natural progression
into the medium.
Are you a method actor or do you go by your instincts?
During the earlier phase of my career, I was predominantly
instinctive. Today, I also try to imbibe some elements of
method acting to a certain extent. This stems purely out of
a need to try out something different. Besides, I have a lot
more time than earlier - I'm working on just one project at
a time and can give that much more to a character.
Why have you been so selective of late?
It's partly because I've had two babies in the last two and
half years; but more than that, it's because of the kind of
roles that are going around. Frankly, I would be very uncomfortable
donning the mantle of the bahu in all these inane saas-bahu
conflicts. If these soaps don't inspire me as a viewer, I
don't think I can motivate myself to act in them. So I decided
I'd rather wait for something more meaningful to come my way.
In the meantime, I'm also concentrating on our production
company.
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If
the saas-bahu soaps don't inspire me as a viewer,
I can't motivate myself to act in them. I'd rather wait
for something more meaningful to come my way.
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What are your considerations while taking up a new
project?
In my initial years it used to be simply recognition, then
it would be the need to be associated with reputed directors.
Finally, money was important. Today, I guess I have to consider
all these factors. I can't take up an uninspiring role just
for the sake of money. At the same time, I won't work for
the best of directors if I am being offered peanuts.
What kind of a role really excites you at this stage?
The whole dilemma is that today there are only roles, no characters.
Give me a character and I would love to play it. See, even
the character I play in Justujoo is the result of some
frantic efforts on the part of the writer, director and myself
to create something different that stands out because when
the character was initially offered to me it was not half
as inspiring.
Doesn't TV acting become monotonous and tedious beyond
a point?
Yes, of course it does. I have been acting right from the
time TV really took off in India - the mid 1980s - and I can
tell you that acting was never more dissatisfying than it
is today. The irony is that this degradation started with
the advent of satellite TV in the early 1990s. Although it
was initially felt that programming variety would improve,
it has deteriorated and the reason for this is that cost-reduction
holds centrestage today. Even pay wise, conditions have worsened.
Today, what we get is okay but it could have been much better
had DD retained its importance.
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The
pay artistes get today could have been much better had
DD retained its importance.
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How do you keep yourself charged up as an artiste in
that case?
Do you follow a given regimen?
It's
difficult. As far as a strict regimen goes, I don't adhere
to one. But I do watch a lot of movies and analyse performances.
This is an exercise I have been undertaking of late.
Amit Behl was recently quoted as saying 'Method Acting
is no Acting'. What do you feel?
At least on TV, this is by and large true. There are limited
characters and by putting a little thought to it, one is able
to do a fairly decent job. One really doesn't feel an indispensable
need to get into the nuances of method acting.
Do you feel that there is any area for you to work
on as an actor?
Yes, romance is one aspect of my acting that is weak. Whatever
romance I've enacted on screen has come out of my personal
experience - out of the fact that I'm married and have experienced
similar emotions in my real life. But I've felt this does
not come out very naturally.
Who are your favourite actors?
Rather having a few favourites, I relish performances more.
But generally, I have great regard for Amitabh Bachchan, Naseeruddin
Shah, Om Puri, Shahrukh Khan and Smita Patil.
Have you imbibed any stylistic elements of their acting?
No. The moment someone told me that I resembled some great
actress, I made a conscious effort to undo that bit, so that
I could have my own identity.
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When
I started on TV, I was disillusioned with the quality
of movies being made then. Time has come a full circle
since then. I'm open to movies.
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Does having a director husband help? How well do Vivek
(Agnihotri) and you complement one another?
Of course, being married to someone who is in the same
profession helps. Normally both of us are very critical of
each other's work. Vivek likes to tear my work apart and I
criticise his. But all that is in the right spirit and because
we want each other to come up better the next time around.
Who are your favourite directors?
My husband, with whom I've done Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye Hum,
Govind Nihalani, Amol Palekar and Vipul Shah, who brought
out one of my most memorable performances in Alpviram.
Are you satisfied?
I am content. But I still have a lot more to do as an actor.
But you say TV is not offering you the opportunity.
So, is movies an option?
Yeah, in fact when I started with TV serials, I was disillusioned
with the quality of movies being made then. Time has come
a full circle since then. I'm open to movies.
Which has been the happiest moment of your career?
Bagging the role of Kasturba Gandhi in Shyam Benegal's The
Making of the Mahatma.
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