Avinash Tiwary’s turn as Satya in the Netflix film Bulbbul has earned him praise. The actor, who was seen earlier this year in Karan Johar’s segment in Ghost Stories, chatted with The Telegraph on the conversation the Anushka Sharma-produced film has started and why it needs to become a public discourse.
Two weeks down, has the huge success of Bulbbul sunk in?
Well, it’s been trending on Netflix at No. 1 ever since it was released. It’s all new for me, to get so much love and acknowledgement (laughs). The audience has been talking about every facet of the film, and that’s something that’s very rare. Right from cinematography to costumes, set design to the background score, the performances to the message of the film... all of that has been appreciated.
One of the conversations I have had with close friends and family, because there I can speak my mind freely, revolves around patriarchy. The film talks about feminism and we realised that we also need to identify the patriarchs. I knew that the eyes and attention of the audience would be on Tripti (Dimri) because the film is called Bulbbul after all, but one of the major reasons I signed on was that I wanted to see what Satya would bring to the film. At the end of the film, Bulbbul calls out Satya as one of the patriarchs in the film... she tells him, ‘Ab tum bhi unki tarah ho gaye ho’. That’s the conversation that’s been happening around me... was Satya patriarchal? What did he really do wrong?
Most men around me identify themselves as being like Satya... he’s someone who doesn’t really do things wrong, but still comes across as being patriarchal because of the conditioning that most men have. I kept debating with Anvita (Dutt, director) about it... honestly, I kept thinking that Satya was doing everything right, until Anvita said that, ‘Avinash, maybe you need to acknowledge that you are a closet patriarch yourself’. It’s not very easy to accept that... I am still fighting it but I am willing to understand that I may be wrong about it. I am happy that at least people around me are having a conversation about it. When that conversation becomes a public discourse, that’s when things will get interesting and a change will happen. I truly feel that I am a feminist and the day I can acknowledge that I am actually a closet patriarch is when that shift will happen, at least within me.
You’ve said this was a tough man to play. What were the biggest hurdles?
Tripti and I had done a film (Laila Majnu) together before this. So we needed to keep audience perception in mind. Also, Satya walks this thin line which is kind of undefined. It called for a very controlled performance. My job was to walk this thin line that creates this intrigue in the film about who Satya really is, a man with some regressive ideas and yet blessed with a certain naivete. That was very difficult. I realised that playing someone with innocence, ignorance and naivete is tougher than playing someone who is smart. I had to keep my personality completely away from the character.
I feel that all the hard work we put in has been rewarded by the fact that people have really got the film. And the credit for that should go to Anvita because she set the grammar and prepared the landscape of the film. There are so many layers to the film, and people have been able to unravel them. Honestly, I felt Satya has his own tragedy... for him to acknowledge who he really is and then walk away, is tragic in its own way. He’s a victim of that system himself, like Binodini (Paoli Dam) is.
What did you have to do physically to play the part?
When Anvita met me, the first thing she told me is, ‘I think you should put on a little weight’. You know, basically fitting into the stereotype of early 20th century Calcutta, the stereotype of chawal-machhli khaanewaala (laughs). Physically, Satya wasn’t meant to be very fit. I had an accident then and wasn’t working out anyway, and then I made sure I started eating well, took all the restrictions off. I grew my hair.
There is a certain amount of drooping shoulders when it comes to Satya. The head of the family (Indranil, played by Rahul Bose) takes all the decisions. Indranil is overpowering and Satya doesn’t really have a say. He does what the head of the family asks him to. So, I actually saw him as someone burdened by that and that crept into his physicality. He’s not flamboyant, he’s slightly brute. It’s so minute that I don’t even know that the audience will pick it up.
What was the shooting experience like?
Oh, how beautiful is that Rajbari (Bawali)! I had no idea about it. It’s a beautiful property created in the middle of absolutely nothing in a way. After the shoot got over, I stayed back in Calcutta for a few days to roam around. Because I am from Bihar, it was a comfortable space for me... I would walk on the streets and drink sattu paani. It’s something that comes from my roots and I enjoyed that. The food in Calcutta is world-famous anyway. I went to a few temples also. It’s such a cultural place, an old-world charm and its a space I really love.
What’s the way forward for you?
I don’t know what to do and how to do it. There is no guide and no mentor. So someone like me has to take decisions depending on what comes to me and I do it to the best of my ability. And then I just hope that it pays off in terms of the audience choosing to see my work. Post Laila Majnu, Bulbbul was the first project that was offered to me and then I went on to shoot The Girl on the Train (co-starring Parineeti Chopra). After that, I am doing Dongri to Dubai. Laila Majnu didn’t reach people but I did get these opportunities. Post Bulbbul, I hope the opportunities are more and better. But I don’t know how to leverage it. I can just hope that things come to me and I grab them with both hands.
How’s it been like over the last few months?
Self-introspection has been a way of life for me. There have been phases in life when I haven’t had any work and not made any money. I just stayed at home and made sure I survived those phases. The lockdown seems similar in that sense. About this phase, someone told me recently, ‘It’s not that we are in the same boat... we are in the same storm and our boats are different... kisi ke paas chhoti boat hain aur kisi ke paas cruise’. My sense of empathy is very high, sometimes to almost dangerous levels. This time has really affected me. I have had a lot of thoughts and I wrote them down... I actually had T-shirts printed during the promotions of Bulbbul with these thoughts. I’ve learnt a few magic tricks, wrote a song, danced....
