Sayantani Ghosh: I lost out on a good show; was told I didn’t look Punjabi enough

The actor talks about biases in the business and how people perceive actors; adds “if you are fair, you can’t play a middle class person, if you have light eyes, you are offered only glam or vamp roles”

I have been offered many roles where I have been able to show my versatility as an actor but in my 15 years as an actor, I have, too, face biases and stereotyping,” says Sayantani Ghosh. She recalls that in 2009, after her hit TV show Nagin ended, she was home for a year. “Not because of no work but even after playing a lead role, I didn’t get good offers. Back then, makers wouldn’t cast actors right after a hit TV show and would wait for the image to fade. I was told that you are Bengali with big eyes and strong personality, so we can’t imagine you in a girl-next-door or softer role. But I waited and took on a role of a demure mother in Meri Maa,” says the actor.

Sayantani feels beyond looks, an actor should be able to perform any kind of role and that’s where the talent shines.

Having played a glamorous vamp in Itna Karo Na Mujhe Pyaar, an antagonist in Santoshi Maa, and a positive role in Naamkaran, she also played a dancer in a recent show. She reveals, “It is organic for makers to think of me while casting for a dancer or a mythological show, and I am humbly proud of my journey and have attempted different roles. But, when people think of you in certain roles, you miss out on others. In my case, there was a show I was in talks for a Punjabi woman’s role but I was told, I was told I didn’t look Punjabi enough, so I lost out on a good show. This typecasting of dusk, big eyes is Bengali or south Indian, only fair skin for north Indian roles, if you are fair, then you won’t be offered a lower middle-class role, if you got light eyes, you can be only a glam vamp. I don’t understand these things, especially when I hear, you don’t look like a mother. What is a mother supposed to look like? Shabby, unkempt, someone who doesn’t care of one’s self.” Ghosh is currently stars in a TV show, Tera Yaar Hoon Main.

Ghosh feels beyond looks, an actor should be able to perform any kind of role and that’s where the talent shines. She has tried to work around these biases and grateful for good roles she got, but “at times you compromise and take up roles as a matter of survival in the industry”. “Earlier, if you started off as a vamp, you would only get such roles. Things are slowly evolving and we have seen actors play switch between positive and negative roles now. I believe if an actor is talented, he or she should get chances beyond what they fits the bill or look like,” she concludes.