Actor Tisca Chopra needs no introduction where she has been a part of the industry for over two decades and has performed some of the finest characters.
However, as a woman in the entertainment industry, she, like many others has been subjected to ageism. In a recent interview with Galatta Plus, she talked about the one instance where she was replaced just four days before the shoot was set to begin.
She recalled how in 2016, a particular director led her on for a while. They began preparations, including costumes and lines, but about four days before the shoot, he informed her that they were choosing someone younger. He attempted to pass it off as the producers’ decision, but she realized it was something she no longer wanted to hear.
She mentioned that by that time, she had realized she had been ignoring certain thoughts for some time. She had the advantage of working with wonderful directors and learning from them by observing their process and absorbing their methods. She added that if youth and beauty are the only attributes valued in a particular market, it made her feel a strong internal resistance. She expressed that if the industry is solely interested in the young and beautiful, it indicates a very sad state of the world.
She then talked about transforming her frustration into creativity. She mentioned how she had been performing a piece called Chutney at Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai, based on a story by Bhisham Sahni. By that time, the piece had evolved in her mind. She narrated it to a few close friends, and together they developed the story and wrote it. The protagonist was neither attractive nor young and lacked other privileges. She was not well-spoken and did not have a male heir or a child. Despite these aspects, the protagonist controlled the narrative in the story.
On the celluloid front, she was last seen in Netflix’s Murder Mubarak.