D for Divya E for Energy

DIVYA DUTTA is a bundle of energy. I was very impressed by her nuanced portrayal of an over-the-top character in her last release Irada. In her films, fast hitting a ton (100), I’ve appreciated the character she lent to many of the roles she played. Moreover, I had just read her book Me & Ma, a celebration of the life she led with, and the lessons she imbibed from her mother, whose recent passing she is still mourning. Her sharp eyes turn limpid at any mention. Complimenting Divya on both, the film and the book, earned me a warm invitation to a stupendous home-cooked Punjabi meal at her homely abode. Over the next few hours, we bonded over many common interests, tastes and thoughts. I warmed up to the straight-as-an-arrow and delightfully blunt Divya as I listened to her take on myriad people and situations. We both committed to repeating the entire afternoon session, but that, my friends, will not be for publication.

- Suguna Sundaram

I wanted to know what a film like Chalk-N-Duster did for Divya? It was a very contrary-to-character role from the docile image she is credited with. Even the one in Irada, but I wanted to talk about this first. Divya’s sentences are short and crisp - like her. Tiny bites of wisdom and thought. She said, “ChalkN-Duster I think was a starkly dark role. The typical villain in a Hindi film.” And was that what attracted her to it? She nods, “It did in a way. I met the director in the lobby of a hotel and you know those filmy chats you have like, let’s meet and stuff…this gentleman comes to me and says ‘I was coming to meet you soon.’ I thought he was making conversation, but he said he was making a film on teachers. He told me, ‘I’ve already signed Shabana (Azmi) and Juhi (Chawla), and I want you to do the main negative. I just looked at him, because nobody offers me negative roles, but he said he wanted me to do that. That interested me, intrigued me rather, and also because it was up against Shabana and Juhi, which was a big high. Shabana is someone I always look up to, and I’ve done four-five films with her. Mujhe laga mazedaar hoga and it was, I enjoyed it. Subtle play but total villain, was something I hadn’t done. So, maza aya karke. I instinctively feel I want to do something and say yes, or instinctively say no to films if I don’t want to do them.”