An actor is never on a holiday: Rajshri Deshpande
Mumbai: It takes a lot of hard work to build a character, believes actor Rajshri Deshpande, who says she is always on the job observing people around even when she isn't shooting.
Citing the example of her role of the cop Shobha Trivedi in the Netflix series "The Fame Game", the 39-year-old actor said she aims to make all her characters relatable to the audience.
"An actor is never on a holiday. Even when I am not shooting, I am observing people. Understanding an individual is my job. I want to absorb everything from every human being.
"That's how each of my characters are made. They are not fantasy characters, they are just you and me, like Shobha is an everyday character. That's why people are relating to her," Deshpande told PTI in a telephonic interview.
"The Fame Game", currently streaming on Netflix, revolves around a Bollywood actress named Anamika Anand, played by Madhuri Dixit Nene, who suddenly goes missing one day and Shobha is out there to solve the case.
The Aurangabad-born actor said she is humbled when audiences and critics praise her work.
"It feels like the hard work that I have put in has yielded results. The praise is motivating, it gives me strength to do better and better work," she added.
Known for her work in acclaimed films like "Angry Indian Goddesses", "S Durga", "Manto", and "Sacred Games", another series from Netflix, Deshpande said she discusses her role with the writer and director at length to "become" the character.
"As an actor you carry so many people, like Laxmi from Angry Indian Goddesses', Ismat Chughtai in Manto' or Subhadra in The Sacred Games', Shobha Trivedi from The Fame Game', they all are different people, with different thinking, feeling, their sociopolitical world is different. I make sure I study that much to create another human being, she added.
The rise of OTT platforms has led to a lot of work opportunities, but the actor said she takes her time to zero down on a project.
"The work is so much. I make sure the work that I do is substantial and sensitive. I am fortunate that nobody has typecast me and I also make sure I don't repeat myself."
In her off-screen life, Deshpande devotes time to her 30 adopted drought-prone villages, including Pandhari, Dhorkin, Ambi and Pokhari in Maharashtra.
As an actor I feel we should pause ourselves to rejuvenate because one character just absorbs you. So you need to take a little time or else you will be repetitive.
That is why I balance my life with my village work and my acting career. Social work helps me a lot. I learn and unlearn from there. I learn a lot about life. As actors we show life after all on screen, the actor, who holds a degree in law, said.
She will next be seen in My Dog is Sick , a film by hairstylist-turned-director Sapna Moti Bhavnani.
