Neetu Chandra tells TOI that few among them become actors by practice

But there are some stars who are born too, at least, in India. Neetu Chandra tells TOI that few among them become actors by practice....

On Friday morning, Neetu Chandra flew down to Kolkata for a whirlwind trip to the city. No, not for any film shoot but a casual visit to the city with her mother (Neeru) and aunt (Asha) before she flew them down with her to Mumbai on Saturday. On her way to the airport, Neetu took a detour to spend some time on the city’s waterfront.

Staring at the imposing Howrah Bridge from a distance, she said, “I was very small when dad first showed me the Howrah Bridge. Whenever I played pranks, my father would say he’d bring me to Kolkata and throw me off the Howrah Bridge. It’s been close to a year since dad passed away and it feels strange to stand in front of the bridge and be swept by his memories.”

Bleary-eyed, she paused for a second and then, took out her phone to show a picture of herself. “When dad succumbed to cancer last year, I was told that a daughter wasn’t supposed to go to the crematorium. But I refused to listen. I thought that if I could shoulder his responsibility, I had every right to be a part of his last rites. That’s why I insisted on being a pallbearer. Later, when I searched the reasons for barring women from being part of this ritual, I found that it was devised because women are supposedly chicken-hearted. I don’t buy the logic and hence, revolted,” she said, showing the picture of herself as a pallbearer.

Her’s father’s death matured Neetu by at least 20 years. “If all of us are supposed to die one day, what’s the use of having any ego? It only makes sense to do something in life for which posterity will remember us by. That’s precisely the reason why I took to producing a Bhojpuri film. Money making is fine but at least, I’m involved in something that’ll revamp the image of the industry in the eyes of the nation.”

The philosophical Neetu also seemed pretty sorted out in terms of understanding her place in Bollywood. “In our industry, stars are made while actors are born. Then, there are some who become actors because they are fortunate enough to get multiple opportunities. Those are cases of practice making a person reach close to perfection,” she said. And what about Freida Pinto? Is she a star or an actor? “Freida is yet to prove herself. We can take a call on that once her Woody Allen film releases. Her stars are favouring her and as an Indian, I’m proud of her. Despite my talent, I’ve not been offered a Woody Allen film. Freida, in contrast, is already a star made by a director and her stars.”

But isn’t it intriguing that despite having worked with highly-acclaimed directors like Priyadarshan, Madhur Bhandarkar, Dibakar Banerjee, Jagmohan Mundhra and Ram Gopal Varma, she doesn’t bag solo lead roles when they are doing big budget movies? Why is it that after doing Traffic Signal and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, she still needs to do a multi-starrer like No Problem and a guest appearance in a Vipul Shah film? “I’m not in a position to ask this question to such greats. In all modesty, I know I have a mix of beauty and talent. I’m a junior in the industry. Neither do I have a godfather nor do I belong to any camp. I can’t beg for work either. The two films of mine that won National Awards have me playing solo leads. So, that speaks for my talent. I understand that acclaimed directors have certain pressures too. Whenever they require me, I’m just a call away.”

As she ambled down the jetty, Neetu spoke about how she has always tried to be positive about life. “I even take criticism positively. When people spoke about my weight, I seriously started working out. I’ve lost around 10 kilos recently. No oily food for me and I literally survive on fruits and water,” she said, even as the sight of her glamorous avatar on the Babughat jetty started drawing unwarranted attention.