Divya Dutta: I refrain from commenting on socio-political issues

Mumbai, March 7 National Award-winning actress Divya Dutta says that as an artiste she would rather portray different characters on-screen than comment on current affairs that have no connection with her immediate field of work. She adds that she rejects the idea of doing most “expected” from a celebrity.

“I just do not want to be a popular face who comments on social media just for the sake of it. We are living in that situation now where any celebrity, making or not making comments on current affairs, gets judged by a section of people. If I comment on anything political, one section will troll me. If I do not express my opinion that is not related to my immediate field, people will say, ”phir celeb hone ka kya faida (then what”s the use of being a celeb)?” Basically we are not allowed to practice our choice without criticism. We always behave in the way society wants. Now, one extended part of society is living on social media. Jahaan sirf baaton ki batangad baanti hai, aur kuch nahin (where things are blown out of proportion, and litle else happens),” Divya told IANS.

Whether her role of a housewife in the short film “Sleeping Partner”, a lover in the upcoming short film “Sheer Qorma”, or an important role in the upcoming thriller web series “Special Ops”, Divya is putting out a lot of acting assignments on screen.

Asked what the responsibility of an actor is, she replied: “(The responsibility of an actor is) to play a character where one is very different from the other. As an actress, I want to portray characters that represent different sections of society. Recently one of my short films, ”Sleeping Partner”, addressed the issue of marital rape. As an actress, I played a part in that story because I loved the story and felt it was an important one.”

“I also play a homosexual character in the short film ”Sheer Qorma”, and after the release of the trailer people said that they loved me seeing in it. Again, (it is) an important story. The fact of the matter is I will use my medium to do things that is expected of me, to entertain people because I am an actress,” she signed off.

(Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in)