Swastika Mukherjee: I don’t want to do mediocre work for the Bollywood stamp

The Bengali actor feels Paatal Lok and Dil Bechara “put me on the national map and It has been a long journey 20 years to reach this point.”

With three projects Dil Bechara (2020) and web series, Paatal Lok and Black Widows, Swastika Mukherjee is glad that people have taken notice of her work and performances. “Last year was amazing workwise. Paatal Lok and Dil Bechara put me on the national map. A lot of appreciation came my way from the masses, critics and all kinds of audience,” says the actor, adding both the projects “happened” over the last three years and people felt the impact as all of them came out in one year.

Swastika says, “I am an established brand in my industry and I don’t want to do something for the heck of it.”

She also had two significant Bengali releases on Bengali OTT platforms and adds that in the recent years, she has been conscious about not repeating herself. “My goal is to not do the same kind of roles, not look the same on screen, not repeat myself. I’ve always tried to present myself in a new way to the audience. I don’t want to just be on screen,” she shares.

Talking about her foray into Hindi projects, Mukherjee reveals it has been a long 20 year journey. “I started with TV and shifted to movies. I did some hardcore films, later sensible cinema came my way and my career move on. I shot for Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015) but I had so much work in Bengal that I didn’t want to leave everything and try Bollywood. I have tried to balance both Bengali and Hindi projects and in the last 2-3 years, I have been getting many offers from Mumbai. I am choosy as I don’t want to do something for the heck of it. I am an established brand in my industry and I don’t want to do mediocre work just for the Bollywood stamp. I want people take me seriously as a performer and I should be able to make a mark with my talent and hard work rather than being just there everywhere and the going with the idea that I am also doing Bollywood. I’ve been slow and steady and it has paid off well. After watching the recent Hindi web shows, audiences have looked up my work and a number of non-Bengali audiences watched my Bengali work. That was a bonus and it’s amazing to open up to a larger audience,” she concludes.