Sayani Gupta: Sparkling Star

A graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India, a young, bubbly girl who is like a sparkling star has already made her niche in Film Industry.

She made her feature film debut in 2012 in Second Marriage Dot Com. She has since appeared in supporting roles in films such as Fan, Jolly LLB 2, and Article 15…Women Shine wishes her a very happy birthday( 9th October)

In an Interview with Women Shine, Sayani talks about her journey and roles..

1. What is something that you know now that you wish you knew when you were first starting out as an actor?

Few things actually, first of all, acting is not the only thing that one needs to know, to be a professional actor actually, you know It’s so much more. One has to be really good with people management, one has to be very good with management,  with time. All of that there is so much of your energy that goes into the peripheral things, especially when you start doing more work, your dates, money, just scheduling things, just to be on top of everything and it’s so much more than just going out there and doing a good scene. 

So I wish I knew all of that but you can’t unless you start work. Those kinds of things are very annoying and I wish I didn’t have to do any of that, take my time and concentrate on the real work but you are left with such little time to do the real work that’s what is frustrating sometimes.

2. Is there a particular role that got away? – A role you really wanted but wasn’t cast in?

Yaa, of course, there was one film that I really really wanted. After I saw the film I was like never mind, actually, my friend called me and said that “you were saved”, but having said that you haven’t got cast in but I thought it would be interesting. Once I saw the film I actually thought I didn’t really miss out much and it’s always for a good reason. So I thought this person who did get cast was cast so correctly. So actually I  never felt bad about watching a film out of a project.  Recently I really wanted to be a part of the project and although the audition was fab everyone loved it, it didn’t happen. I still don’t know why but there I felt like what do I do there’s nothing more I could have done obviously but I guess these are things that are destined. But I feel that most parts that are played are all destined, there is no fretting about it.

3. If you could choose, what three actors would you really want to work with?

Naseer again I would really want to work with, I would love to work with Shah Rukh Khan again, I wish I had worked with Irfan, but it’s not gonna happen unfortunately and maybe Jake Gyllenhaal would like to work with.

4. What’s the toughest part about being an actor?

Just being an actor, I don’t think there is any tough part. Of course, you have to have a very thick skin and I read a quote from Adam Driver that once said if you are an actor it means you are ready and willing to fail in front of people and fail publicly but apart from that I don’t think you feel much about it.

The toughest part for being an actor in Bombay or being a professional actor is what I said the other peripherals, looking a certain way, it’s just not acting there are so many things and the business part of it which annoys me because I don’t have an interest in that. Also, I didn’t become an actor because I want to become a star, I wanted to become an actor because I love acting, anything that takes me and my focus away from the acting part of it I don’t enjoy it.

5. What’s the best part of being an actor?

The best part of being an actor is being an actor. The fact that you can be an actor and you are paid for it, it’s phenomenal, it’s the best thing ever.

6. When did you first know you wanted to become an actor?

When I was 4 years old, I was sitting on a pot and I knew I wanted to become an actor, I knew I wanted to do it, I just wanted it, I really truly desired it.

7. Do you prefer acting for movies or for the theatre?

I don’t think they really can cancel each other out because it is a completely different experience for either. Theatre is an actor’s medium. It’s a completely different ball game altogether, films are different, it’s not an actor’s medium, the actor has very little control over the medium so you can’t really choose. I prefer I enjoy both thoroughly for different reasons.

8. What has been your favourite role so far?

There were many. I enjoyed article 15, I really enjoyed playing Rohini in Inside edge.

9. What is the scariest part of an audition?

No scary part. I enjoy auditioning and I really put in a lot of effort. Still, I am very particular about getting the clothes right, getting makeup hair everything. Even if it is sometimes like cutting my hair in a bad way, for an audition like Jagga Jasoos. I actually cut it very badly, cut bangs for the audition. I really take a lot of effort, I’ll go for the parts which I haven’t got also. I will shop for sarees to get the look right, so I really put in an effort and I really enjoy the process. It’s a nice process to explore also. I thoroughly enjoy it. I also sometimes do get annoyed when people ask me to for like random stupid parts, I am like dude I have worked enough for you to know whether I can pull this off or not, and sometimes it is annoying because the leads in that film are really not great actors, so I want as, dude cast me for this, so those kind of things are very annoying but I do audition quite a bit and happily and if I think that this is the part I would test for I will do it and I still do it, during the lockdown, there were so many auditions I did, in fact in a week I did 3-4. Auditions like a big one where you have to prepare 3-6 scenes, I like to put it that and it’s a fun process honestly.