As an artist, we should never leave anything to opportunity

Actress Rajeshwari Sachdev, who won the National Award for Best Supporting Actress by acting in Shyam Benegal's film "Sardari Begum" at the age of just 21, was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work with renowned and excellent directors like Shyam Benegal and Basu Chatterjee everywhere, be it a film or a TV serial. This was the period when it was believed that if it was Shyam Benegal's film or serial, it was mandatory for Rajeshwari Sachdev to be there. Whereas Rajeshwari Sachdev also worked with other directors. For example, for 'Netflix' she also played a small role as a guest artist in the film 'Nazar Andaz'. In fact, Rajeshwari Sachdev did not bind herself to any restriction. She has been emphasizing only on playing good characters. That's why when filmmaker Manish Tiwari assigned her the role of a single mother of a 15-year-old son in the film 'Chidiya Khana', she played that too and gained immense fame.

Here are excerpts from the conversation with Rajeshwari Sachdev.

How do you look back at your 33-year-long career in the industry today?

There were many ups and downs in my career. But I consider myself lucky that I always got the opportunity to work with great directors and great actors. I always learned something new. My confidence in myself increased. I knew from the beginning that this was what I wanted to do. I enjoy this work. Then the paths started forming on their own. I have a lot to say about my 33-year-long career. When people ask me what has been your best work so far. So I proudly say that there is not just one but many. I say with great humility that if good work has been done, it has been done. It is not as if this good work has fallen on me just like that. I have seen continuous growth. When people asked where I wanted to reach, even at the age of fifteen I used to think that don't set your goal so high that if you don't reach there, you will become a victim of depression and also don't set the goal so low that you will find out that your path was much further than that. So, as an artist, it is not appropriate to confine oneself to any restrictions. We are working continuously. Good work keeps coming to me. Hopefully, good work will continue to come in the future. I did many films and serials with Shyam Benegal's uncle. Today, when I look back and see the twists and turns that have taken place in my career, I feel that everything will be good in the future too.

You acted in every film by Shyam Benegal. Any special reason for this?

-Only Shyam Benegal's uncle can give the correct answer as to why he kept making me a part of his every film. I continue to believe that I do good work. That's why he makes me a part of every film. I consider myself lucky that I worked with him a lot and there came a time when I was sure that I would be in every one of his films. I will do whatever he tells me. After 'Sooraj Ka Satwana Ghoda', I was given a small role in 'Mammo', in which I passed by humming the old actress's song. During 'Sardari Begum', two or three of my characters changed. But the character I played won me the National Award. Whereas I had never thought of this even in my dreams. But he did not give me an opportunity in the film ‘Mujib’ because there was no suitable role for me in it. I even worked with Basu Chatterjee.

What did winning the National Award at the beginning of your career and at a young age mean to you?

-I couldn't believe it when I found out the night before. Then I thought that it would not change till tomorrow, would it? Well, I was very excited. Was very happy.

Don't you think that there is a world of difference between the era of cinema during the time of Shyam Benegal and Basu Chatterjee and the era of cinema of today?

You are absolutely right. Look, everyone is saying that right now cinema is being made on very good stories. But I believe that the stories in the films of that time were better. We used to make films on literary stories. But there were fewer platforms then. Today every filmmaker has many platforms. Today you have the freedom to make films in any format and give your film to any platform. But the art of telling a story or conveying something has decreased. Due to reality, the art gets divided. We know that there are four members in a family, yet all four of them have different styles of talking. But here we are seeing in the web series or serial that all the characters of the family are speaking the same style and dialogues in the same style. Is this reality? Agreed, only what is sold is what is seen, but then it doesn't even leave an impression.

You have been associated with all three mediums – theatre, TV, and film. When did the biggest challenge come?

I was away from the theater for a long time. In those days I was shooting for the serial ‘Balika Badhu’. Then Lillete Dubey offered me the musical play “Gauhar Jaan”, in which I had to sing a song also. I said that I can sing, but I am not a classical singer. Gauhar Jaan's character was amazing. She was the only recording artist of her time. Her life has been quite interesting. So I couldn't even refuse such a character. But a lot of preparation had to be done for this character. Had to rehearse for the play and also had to learn singing. In those days my son was also four-five years old. We had only one month's time to make all the preparations. I was also busy shooting for ‘Balika Badhu’. That means many types of challenges were ahead. However, I geared up to work hard and started learning classical music. This thought also came to my mind that if we think that we will do wonders in the first two shows of the play, then it is not possible. I had the self-confidence to work as an actor. The matter was stuck in singing. Then I thought that in the first few episodes, I and the audience may also feel that better things could have been done. But it was certain that I was going to learn something. My development as an artist was certain. I was certain that it would be a good experience. Well, my intention was to do wonders in the first show itself. But you also know that mistakes can happen in any show of drama. In the end, I decided that if I worked hard instead of just overthinking, I would be able to do this drama well. I worked hard from my side and bit by bit the play got better. I am proud of myself. Perhaps another artist could have done it better than me. But I did what I thought was the best. I enjoyed doing this play a lot. When an artist goes on stage, he thinks that he is an actor, a singer, and also a dancer. I enjoyed doing this play.

While doing this play, you must have realized that in your childhood, your mother had taken a good step by sending you to Dance class.

-Yes! Whatever you learn in life never goes to waste, you have to have courage. You cannot be afraid or sit silent thinking about what will happen. Whatever has to happen will happen, but you have to muster courage. Don't think that I am not afraid. I am also scared. Sometimes I also feel that I cannot do this. But you have to use your brain. When I understand that I will enjoy doing this work, I can learn something new without harming anyone, then I move ahead. As an artist, we should never leave anything to opportunity. We assume that we will fall once but have to get up again.

What was the reason for doing the recently released Manish Tiwari's film 'Chidiya Khana'?

-I have worked with Manish Tiwari before. So I was sure that he would bring me a good character. When he told me the story of 'Chidiya Khana', I liked the story very much. The story of the film revolves around Suraj, a thirteen-fourteen-year-old boy. Who lives in a hut with his mother Bibha? In this, all the best actors including Prashant Narayanan, Ravi Kishan, Govind Namdev, and Anjan Srivastava have been associated with their film. We are familiar with these artists. Therefore, it was believed that while shooting, we would enjoy working with good people in a good environment and also learn something new.

Till now you have played many characters. Is there any character who has influenced your life?

-No…actually in 1994 I was shooting for a film “Triyacharitra”. At that time, I was feeling pain in the scene of giving a mark on the forehead. Then I said what this is? This is so wrong. Since then I changed myself and became a switch-on and switch-off artist.

Apart from this, are you doing anything new?

-As far as acting is concerned, I have shot for two films and a web series, we will talk about them when the time comes. Apart from this, society and people have given us a lot till now, so now to give something to society from our side, we started a 'YouTube channel' just four months ago with our friend and Ayurvedic doctor Dr. Manisha Mishra. "Chitchat show with Rajeshwari Sachdev and Dr. Manisha Mishra" has been started. In this, we talk about useful food for a healthy body, Ayurvedic herbs, and the treatment of some diseases, etc. in a very simple manner. For example, we talk about issues like how much water should we drink every day, whether 'tomato' is useful for a healthy body or not, what to do with the thyroid, or how music treats the disease. This channel of ours is very popular. Our aim is to provide free, useful, and accurate information to people to stay healthy and fit.

- Shantiswarup Tripathi