An accomplished stage actor’s venture into the world of screen: Sanjita in Doaansh

 

An accomplished stage actor’s venture into the world of screen: Sanjita in Doaansh

For the readers of my blog, it may be a little surprising to find this piece about a film viewing experience. The purpose of my doing this piece is to discuss an accomplished stage actor’s venture into the world of screen acting.   

It is nothing new in a stage actor facing the movie camera. So, seeing Sanjita work in her debut (?) film called Doaansh was nothing novel in it, as such. But what is fresh to experience is her style of acting. Her poignant portrayal of a character of a woman belonging to a fringe society of the Sundarbans, is indeed significantly refreshing for a theatre spectator.

The film produced by Mojotale Entertainments & Distributions is made by Sayan Bandopadhyay on the life and struggle of the Moulis, the honey-gatherers of the Sundarbans. The matriarch of one such family who had lost her husband and her son to the attacks of the tiger, as well as her daughter-in-law to the crocodile, is living a life of a boat-woman and brining-up her grand daughter who is in her youth bubbling with life. With oppressions mounting, things turn ugly and the woman delivers her way of justice to square things up.

Though the script gives not much space to Sanjita to elucidate the character of the elderly woman, but her gait, her flexing of the hands of a tired oarswoman, the subtle expressions of her eyes, twitching of her face muscles and of course her delivery of dialogues in a non-dramatic dreary tone of worn-out woman and that too in a lingo far from the urbane tongue, bring out the inner soul of the tormented character. The internal texture of roughness in the woman has been brought out in a silent mien in the last shot that has been exquisitely framed by the maker. As such close-up viewings for the theatre spectators are never possible, so the quality of performance on the part of the actor has to be stepped down. Thus, for an actor like Sanjita who has honed her stage acting to such heights, it is a challenge that requires a lot of cerebral exercise and a lot of skill to perform. And she has done her bit to perfection as much as was possible for her in the breathing space the script offered her. Such differentiating performances on screen are not much seen in established stage actors, baring a few. And as such many renowned actors of the stage have failed to put a mark on the screen.

We certainly can hope to see Sanjita on the screen in the future.