With a bold image you cease to be an actor, says Reeth Mazumder
Reeth Mazumder was seen in a film named Scandall, which released last year, and didn’t leave any mark critically or commercially. The actress returned to her happy space — doing foreign projects. Her latest release was a French-Bengali collaboration titled Porobashinee. However, she backed out of the promotions after she felt that actress Urvashi Rautela, who did a song in the film, was being given more prominence.
“Two weeks before the film, I got a call from the filmmakers that they will be making film posters of Urvashi Rautela’s song, which was fine with me. The film was titled on my character but when I saw the campaign giving her more limelight, I backed out of promoting the film as I did not find it ethical.”
Asked if she spoke about it to the filmmakers or Urvashi, she said, “They didn’t give me a convincing explanation and I am not friends with Urvashi. I don’t think she wasn’t aware of what was happening. I have heard from friends in the industry that she always tends to have problems with other actors.”
Nonetheless, the actress who believes in work satisfaction, is looking to make a comeback in Bollywood. “Scandall was promoted as a very bold film and its songs were also shot in that manner. But at the core of it was a strong story about incest. I don’t regret doing it. But what happens with a bold image is that you cease to be an actor and become a commodity. Even a MMS clip, which was actually a scene from the film, was circulated and blown out of proportion. I love India but we are a bit too judgmental. After Scandall, I only got offers where I was supposed to have bold avatars. When I do foreign films with bold scenes, the talking point still remains acting. ”
She adds, “I have grown up watching Hindi films. It will be stupid of me to say that I want to do only festival films. I want to do all kinds of films. But this time, I would like to take up a role where I can establish myself as an actor,” says Reeth, who will now be doing an American web series.
