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Was worried I’ll be typecast after Veer Zaara: Divya Dutta
At the second day of Literati, actor Divya Dutta, the author of Me and Ma and The Stars In My Sky, shared her initial fear of being typecast as the protagonist’s “best friend”, the transition to “strong” roles, her relationship with her mother and coming to terms with her passing.
Travel writing, memoirs, poetry and history were at the centre stage on the second day of Chandigarh Literary Society’s literature festival, Literati, which was held at the Lake Club here on Sunday.
In one of the most well-attended sessions, actor Divya Dutta, the author of Me and Ma and The Stars In My Sky, shared her initial fear of being typecast as the protagonist’s “best friend”, the transition to “strong” roles, her relationship with her mother and coming to terms with her passing.
Saying that if one really desires something, the universe conspires to bring it to you, the actor said it was her dream to be introduced by legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra, and while it did not happen, it was her supporting role in his iconic film Veer Zaara that brought her the recognition she had always yearned for.
However, when the actor was offered the role of “Shabbo” she had some misgivings. “With Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta in the film, I was skeptical whether I would be noticed at all. During the screening, my hands were cold, as I was sure that I would only be offered ‘best friend’ roles from here on, but when we left the theatre, everyone wanted to know who I was.”
‘Law versus Lathi’
In the evening, former IPS officer and educationist Abhayanand, held forth on his book, Unbounded: My Experiments with Law, Physics, Policing and Super 30, with journalist Manraj Grewal Sharma. Speaking on law versus lathi, Abhayanand asserted, “Why should the police use weapons? We are not here to terrorise people. If there is strength in the system, it is in the law of the land.”
The festival was witness to several other insightful sessions, including recitation of poetry and prose, both humorous and profound, by CLS chairperson Sumita Misra, and author-poet Chandra Shekhar Verma; advocates Balram Gupta and Manish Jain discussed “Literary legalese”, while South African author of Indian origin Aman Singh Maharaj and writer Neelesh Kulkarni held forth on their respective books, A Dalliance with Destiny, and Footsteps of Rama: Travels with the Ramayana.
New releases
IAS officer Gauri Parasher Joshi’s Flight of the Golden Eagle and Other Stories, Lily Swarn’s poetry anthology A Passionate Affair with Trees, Chetna Keer’s Giddha on My Gulmohar; Symphony, an anthology by young authors from Manav Rachna International School, Mohali; and The Pursuit, a student magazine were also launched at the festival.
