She wanted to be a singer, but destiny had something else in store for her, says popular actor Mamata Nanda. In a career spanning over eight years, she has carved a niche in the Odia television industry by acting in both positive and negative roles with élan.
In a candid chat with Orissa POST, Mamata talks about her acting career.
Mamata says she had become an actor by chance. “I dreamt of making a career in playback singing. However, my sister Manini spotted an actor in me and literally forced me to go for acting. We both gave auditions to anchor a show but did not make the cut. Later, we gave auditions for the reality show Big Break, an acting-based talent hunt show aired on Tarang channel, and both of us got selected. We were among the top seven contestants. I got my first break in daily soap Uansi Kanya aired on the channel. Since then, there has been no looking back. I have so far acted in mega soaps like Kumkum, Manini and Ardhangini. However, before acting in these serials, I got an opportunity to work with Odia superstar Anubhav Mohanty. I played his sister in the superhit movie Balunga Toka.”
Mamata’s look suits both positive and negative roles. While she played the protagonist in Uansi Kanya and Kumkum, her vamp roles in Manini and Ardhangini were also well received by the audience. Akankhya and Nisa, the characters in Manini and Ardhangini, made her a household name among TV viewers. On playing negative characters, Mamata says, “A daily soap runs because of the vamps. There are so many iconic negative characters that have left an everlasting impact on the audience. It is a vamp who makes the life of the leading lady hell. The protagonists come up well due to the presence of the negative characters. In our daily soaps, every Manini needs an Akankhya. Otherwise, these soaps cannot run, and the audience will lose interest.”
She continues: “I decided to play negative characters to prove my versatility. There are many Bollywood actresses who have done glamorous roles as well as characters with negative shades. Take the case of Priyanka Chopra, who played a negative character in the film Aitraaz. She was hot, sexy, and seductive but at the same time played the character of a ruthless businesswoman in the film. Priyanka got so much into the skin of the character that she was honoured with the Filmfare Award for best actor in a negative role. Being an actress, I always look for versatility.”
Sharing an interesting anecdote, she says, “In the daily soap Uansi Kanya, there was an emotional scene in which I had to cry for not being able to live together with my husband Narayan played by Somesh Mohanty. Just before the shot, I got to know about the death of an aunt in Pune who was very close to me. She had been battling cancer. When she was in Bhubaneswar and undergoing treatment at Apollo, I was always there with her. Due to hectic schedules, I could not visit her before she passed away. When I gave the shot, I cried inconsolably thinking about her. However, my director and crew members appreciated the scene as they were unaware about my personal tragedy.”
About the difficulties she has faced in her career, Mamata says, “Since I have not undergone any training course in acting, I found it hard to do justice to my characters in many cases. In Uansi Kanya, I had to talk to my soul in a form of soliloquy in one scene. The cameraman got irritated and left the place when I failed to perform as expected. Assistant director Ajay Singh helped me and convinced the cameraman to do a retake. The director okayed the shot after 17 takes.”
Mamata has faced the wrath of the audience many times for playing the character of Akankhya and troubling Manini. “In the mega serial Manini, it seemed that Akankhya lost her memory for some time. Actually, Akankhya was pretending to have lost her memory to create a problem for Manini and separate her from the male protagonist Arjun. It was at that time that I was invited to a village function as the chief guest. Soon after I reached the venue, I was mobbed by a group of women who demanded that I should not create problems for Manini. The angry women even told me, ‘Do not torture Manini. Else, we will disclose to Manini that you have not lost your memory.’ I was taken aback to see the hatred they had for me. At the same time, I felt happy that I had done justice to the character,” says Mamata, who attributes her success to her sister, Manini Nanda.
RASHMI REKHA DAS, OP