Sunday, 6 November 2011

Internationally Well-Known Hindi Actress, Nandita Das

By Joe Dunne


Nandita Das - her acting potential and her movies - is well-known not just in India but internationally also. She is the perfect of example of modern day woman who wants to bring about change in society by changing the age old norms and making people conscious. Through her films and unconventional characters that she has portrayed on big screen, she tries to bring forward the unnoticed issues, emotions and confusions of human beings.

Nandita Das entered film industry through Parinati, an Oriya film, in 1996. But people began noting her after she portrayed a role in Fire by Deepa Mehta. As Sita in that film, she portrays a homosexual character without inhibitions. She skillfully enacts the dilemmas and family situation of a woman whose desires are being unnoticed by her partner. She gets her friend in her sister-in-law who also lives in the same house, who undergoes the same situation. This quest for finding their space make way in accepting their relationship and moving out together.

She has selected to act in films which covered issues and societal norms in a fresh manner. Her thorough knowledge of society and the judicial system came from background social work and the experience she got while working with non-profit organizations. Her roles - some of them being Sanwari, Sajani, Kannaki, Nandini Mitra, Shanta, Shyama - capture different feelings of a woman. Many of her films are based on issues and has complex subjects.

She was deeply affected by 2002 Gujarat riots - the way it altered lives of the masses belonging to many religions and also reactions from people all over the country. Based on various true stories connected with the tragic incident, she made Firaaq, her first film as a director. The film narrates lives of various people who have lost someone, who set out find their loved ones and who are traumatized by the riot. The movie fetched many national and international awards for best film and best script.

Nandita Das has acted in Hindi, English, Malayalam, Oriya, Kannada, Telugu, Urdu, Bengali, Marathi and Tamil and won accolades for her acting. Some of the directors of national and international acclaim with whom she worked are Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Deepa Mehta, Shyam Benegal and Mani Ratnam. Other than being an actress, she takes classes in different colleges on subjects like AIDS, violence against women and on child problems and involves actively to bring about about social change. She chairs the Children's Film Society in India.

Nandita Das is the daughter of Jatin das, an acclaimed painter and Varsha, a writer. After completing her studies, she joined a theatre group in Delhi where she was living, other than teaching. She tied the knot with Subodh Maskara and they have a son named Vihaan.




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