I thrive on bold, complex roles : Swastika Mukherjee
TNN | Jan 30, 2025, 12.23 PM IST
Swastika Mukherjee, known for her diverse and challenging roles on-screen, and candid views on social issues, speaks to us about her resolutions for 2025, her contentment with being single, and her growing focus on complex characters. Excerpts:
I seek performance-oriented roles of people battling crises. The more disturbing the role is, the better it is for me as an artiste : Swastika
I don’t care if I’m cast as a mother or an aunt, I need to excel in it: Swastika
What do you want to do in 2025 that you couldn’t in 2024?
My top priority is working on a dog shelter. On the professional front, I want to work on meaningful projects with directors I haven’t worked with before. As for resolutions, I want to finally quit smoking.
Do you miss a companion in life?
I do. But I don’t want to invest my emotions in the wrong place. When you feel lonely, you tend to cling on to the wrong people, who leave you with more pain. I’ve gone through that phase. Not anymore.Are you better off now, being single?
Yes, I am. This is definitely a better phase than getting emotionally attached to the wrong person and then getting hurt. I have had my share of being hurt for one lifetime. (laughs)
Some of your recent roles see you in projects with strong social, political and emotional contexts. How have you been choosing these scripts?
I would say that I’m lucky with scripts. Even in 2014, or earlier, I did films like Take One and Aami Aar Amar Girlfriends, where my characters were opinionated and confident. In Shaheb Bibi Golaam, I played a housewife who chooses to be an escort. This part about her choice is important for me. I am lucky that directors come to me with bold, unconventional characters.
In Nikhoj 2, you play Brinda Basu, a mother and a top cop...
In Nikhoj 2, DCP Brinda Basu faces her worst nightmare when her daughter goes missing. The stakes are higher than ever as journalist Romit Sen’s involvement deepens the mystery. As Brinda navigates a maze of deception, long-awaited answers are offered to some burning questions from season one. There are twists and turns in this season.
How difficult was it to balance a mother’s emotions and a DCP’s professionalism?
It was challenging. Diti (who plays Brinda’s daughter) is the same age as my daughter, Mani. While filming emotional scenes, Mani’s face would pop up in my mind. One night, I called her urgently, and said, “Are you okay? Don’t go out.” She later told me she’d never seen me act that way.
The troubled investigator is a brilliant trope in police procedurals and also one of the toughest ones to play convincingly. What kind of prep did you take?
I prepped a lot for Brinda on my own. Then I sat with Ayan da (Chakrabarti), my director, to find out more about the nuances he wanted in my character. Two years back, I had shot for a Mumbai project where I played a Delhi cop, though the project got shelved. At the time, I met a lot of women police officers, to get an idea about how they are in real life. It is very different from what we see on-screen. I watch a lot of web shows on crime, a lot of Scandinavian detective shows. I did my homework before taking on Brinda. I had to strike the right balance between a mother and a top cop to make the character believable.
On her on-screen chemistry with Tota
Swastika points out that she liked Tota more in the second season. “He looked so good, and he is so fit. He is just as calm and composed as his character in the web series – Romit Sen – but very subtly vigilant,” says the actress, adding, “I kept asking my director, ‘Brinda ar Romit er moddhye ki kichhu hote parey?’ (laughs)”
‘I am only interested in performance-oriented roles’
The actress who played the role of a grieving mother in pursuit of justice, in Bijoya (2024), says, “I’ve been cast as a mother since I was 20. In both Bijoya and Nikhoj, the characters I play aren’t easy. At this point, I’m only interested in performance-oriented roles of people in crises. I don’t care if I’m cast as a mother, grandmother or aunt; I just need to excel in my role.”
Quotes:
I am lucky that directors come to me with unconventional and bold characters
I am extremely critical of myself as a performer. My sister and daughter are worse, they are super critical. I am so nervous about my work that when anything is released, I ask them to watch it first. I only watch it (or not) after their feedback (laughs)
Being single is better than getting attached to the wrong person and then getting hurt
I seek performance-oriented roles of people battling crises. The more disturbing the role is, the better it is for me as an artiste : Swastika
I don’t care if I’m cast as a mother or an aunt, I need to excel in it: Swastika
What do you want to do in 2025 that you couldn’t in 2024?
My top priority is working on a dog shelter. On the professional front, I want to work on meaningful projects with directors I haven’t worked with before. As for resolutions, I want to finally quit smoking.
Do you miss a companion in life?
I do. But I don’t want to invest my emotions in the wrong place. When you feel lonely, you tend to cling on to the wrong people, who leave you with more pain. I’ve gone through that phase. Not anymore.Are you better off now, being single?
Yes, I am. This is definitely a better phase than getting emotionally attached to the wrong person and then getting hurt. I have had my share of being hurt for one lifetime. (laughs)
Some of your recent roles see you in projects with strong social, political and emotional contexts. How have you been choosing these scripts?
I would say that I’m lucky with scripts. Even in 2014, or earlier, I did films like Take One and Aami Aar Amar Girlfriends, where my characters were opinionated and confident. In Shaheb Bibi Golaam, I played a housewife who chooses to be an escort. This part about her choice is important for me. I am lucky that directors come to me with bold, unconventional characters.
In Nikhoj 2, you play Brinda Basu, a mother and a top cop...
In Nikhoj 2, DCP Brinda Basu faces her worst nightmare when her daughter goes missing. The stakes are higher than ever as journalist Romit Sen’s involvement deepens the mystery. As Brinda navigates a maze of deception, long-awaited answers are offered to some burning questions from season one. There are twists and turns in this season.
How difficult was it to balance a mother’s emotions and a DCP’s professionalism?
It was challenging. Diti (who plays Brinda’s daughter) is the same age as my daughter, Mani. While filming emotional scenes, Mani’s face would pop up in my mind. One night, I called her urgently, and said, “Are you okay? Don’t go out.” She later told me she’d never seen me act that way.
The troubled investigator is a brilliant trope in police procedurals and also one of the toughest ones to play convincingly. What kind of prep did you take?
I prepped a lot for Brinda on my own. Then I sat with Ayan da (Chakrabarti), my director, to find out more about the nuances he wanted in my character. Two years back, I had shot for a Mumbai project where I played a Delhi cop, though the project got shelved. At the time, I met a lot of women police officers, to get an idea about how they are in real life. It is very different from what we see on-screen. I watch a lot of web shows on crime, a lot of Scandinavian detective shows. I did my homework before taking on Brinda. I had to strike the right balance between a mother and a top cop to make the character believable.
On her on-screen chemistry with Tota
Swastika points out that she liked Tota more in the second season. “He looked so good, and he is so fit. He is just as calm and composed as his character in the web series – Romit Sen – but very subtly vigilant,” says the actress, adding, “I kept asking my director, ‘Brinda ar Romit er moddhye ki kichhu hote parey?’ (laughs)”
‘I am only interested in performance-oriented roles’
The actress who played the role of a grieving mother in pursuit of justice, in Bijoya (2024), says, “I’ve been cast as a mother since I was 20. In both Bijoya and Nikhoj, the characters I play aren’t easy. At this point, I’m only interested in performance-oriented roles of people in crises. I don’t care if I’m cast as a mother, grandmother or aunt; I just need to excel in my role.”
Quotes:
I am lucky that directors come to me with unconventional and bold characters
I am extremely critical of myself as a performer. My sister and daughter are worse, they are super critical. I am so nervous about my work that when anything is released, I ask them to watch it first. I only watch it (or not) after their feedback (laughs)
Being single is better than getting attached to the wrong person and then getting hurt