Girl Power

Charting Her Own Course in Bollywood, Swara Bhasker Is Starring in Movies That Have Resonance, Speaking Up for What She Believes Is Right, and Dealing With Trolls Her Way.

- Meghna Menon

I REMEMBER WATCHING SWARA BHASKER ON THE RIOTOUS YOUTUBE TALK SHOW, SON OF ABISH, NOT TOO LONG AGO. Swara, who till then I had only seen in movies like Raanjhanaa (where she played a spirited, love-stricken girl) and Tanu Weds Manu (the blunt and straight-speaking Bihari friend of the protagonist), sat on a couch, dressed in a white shirt and sari, narrating hilarious anecdotes from her life. Uninhibited, she laughed at herself, made fun of the host, and gave the audience a no-holds-barred look at herself. When I speak to her over the phone for this interview, both of us in cabs albeit in different cities, I realise she is not much different.

Because, much like how she was on the show, Swara feels extremely relatable. “I live a very real life, where my work days are extremely long, straightforward and disciplined, while my days off are spent with my cats, my boyfriend, doing things around the house, catching up with friends, attending meetings, and squeezing in a workout— I’m infamous for being irregular.” And then there are the roles she has chosen so far, which are largely real too. As a determined domestic help in Nil Battey Sannata, who encourages her reluctant teenage daughter to study hard and pursue her dreams, to the item girl of Anarkali of Aarah, who demands to be treated with respect, Swara’s roles and performances have consistently warmed hearts because they are easy to identify with. “As far as my career trajectory is concerned, I admit I consider aspects like the film’s director and cast, or my role in the movie. In fact, I must look into all that because I have to strategise about the shape my career takes. Yet, I feel that I’ve been lucky and blessed to have been offered great roles that have kept the actor in me alive.”