Everything on the screen looks big. The characters who fill the screen and the stage with their actions are the works of actors who go deep to bring out the emotions and sentiments. So the real question here is: How different are the actors from the characters that they portray? How difficult is it to go into the characters and dwell in their life?
The Week's Sachi Mulmi talked to some actors about their experiences.
Of the imaginary world
Karishma Manandhar
The world of cinema is based on someone’s imagination, and the characters, stories, plotlines: everything is a part of that. So, in no way do I think I’m anything like the characters I portray in the movies. Of all the emotions that I have to act, some may be my own; I might be like the characters I play, had it not been just acting. However, actors portray the role of human beings, and I, too, can’t go far away from what I feel. But it doesn’t mean that I should be like how I portray the characters on the big screen, and it doesn’t mean that everything that happened in there should happen in real life too.
Acting is like meditation. You get in the character and you get out of it, and that’s that. I’m like any other normal woman and I portray them on the screen. In the beginning, an actor may feel confused about the distinction between his/her identity and the character, but the case will be different once they get the hang of it.
Over time, the audience gets to know the actors via interviews, and I think it creates that bridge between the images they have of us and how we actually are. But unless a person doesn’t know you personally, then it doesn’t really matter how you are. You’re free to live and breathe in your own lif
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Revealing what can’t be shown in real life
Buddhi Tamang
The characters I play may be serious, but in real life, I’m a funny person. It’s no surprise then that when I come offstage; people are surprised to see how I really am. But there’s nothing new in this. I believe that we actors are fortunate. We get to play out the emotions that we can’t actually show in our real life. It’s a great outlet for us to deal with our feelings.
I once acted in a play called ‘Malami’ where I had to act as a 65-year-old man. It was really hard playing that character. I was just a 24-25 years old and had no idea how to present the story of the character. So I went to observe old men, especially in Bhaktapur. During the process, I came to realize that even if I attempt to live in the character’s life, how I act for the camera and on the stage is still me. Living the character’s life is just an excuse. The emotions that people see are actually our own emotion, originated from us. Even portraying any kind of character, we have to think about how we would’ve acted if we had been in their place, and that’s an important aspect.
There have been parts that I played that stayed with me even after finishing the acting. In the play ‘Degree Maila’, I played a really angry character. Months after playing that role, I still responded to people in a crass way. Yes, at times, we get too deep in the character and the line between the character and the actor is blurred. But then again, whatever we do and however we behave, it’s all us, isn’t it?
Between the action and cut
Keki Adhikari
I would like to call myself a normal girl. The way I was before I stepped into the industry and how I’m now isn’t that different. Of course, the maturity that comes with age and time is there, but that comes to normal people as well. Compared to that, the roles I’ve played are varied. In the first film, I could relate with my character as she’s somewhat I am – college-going, someone who loves music and a normal girl – and anyone can easily identify with her.
Comparatively, Helen, the character I played in ‘Masan’ is very different. She’s someone I had never seen and never heard about, for which I had to study a lot about that time and do plenty of research. Everything from the way she spoke and her body language, I had to live it on the basis of what I had found out about her.
Being an actor is about living the life of other people, living other stories. If people think that we are what we show on screen, then in a way it’s a victory for us. Because it means that we’ve been successful in doing justice to our characters. At the end of the day, the people we portray are all that are there in the society. But I make sure that I don’t bring them home: I don’t become the character before the ‘action’ and after the ‘cut’. The moment I’m off the set, I’m me, a normal girl doing her job.
Being someone that you aren’t
Jitu Nepal
In reality, I’m quite unlike the characters that I pretend to be. The characters are just that, characters, and nothing more. Characters can be made to do anything, because they are a result of someone’s imagination. I’m different from them because people who know me expect certain behavior from me whereas the characters can be whoever. They can be good or bad. And it’s natural for the audience to think that I’m what I show on the screen. It makes me happy in a way. This is how the audience knows and thinks of me, and I take it as a token of love.
In that sense, I feel that I’m an ordinary person who doesn’t indulge in self-praise and has a simple way of life. One of the most difficult roles I had to portray was that of a cunning person in a tele-serial called ‘Mukti’. To catch all those emotions is really a big thing and you have to dig deep. Similarly, in a series called ‘Yatana’, I played the role of a ‘jogi’. It used to be hard to be someone else that you aren’t. But now, with rehearsals and a lot of discussions and instructions from the director, I easily change into the roles. It’s watching and learning, after all.
