Basking in the glory of her noteworthy performance and numerous award nominations including the best supporting actress (she even won the Lux Cozi Zee Cine Awards!) in her last Bollywood outing, Raanjhanaa; actress Swara Bhaskar is all set for her next screen outing. But trust the talented actress to take up completely different and challenging project.
Swara will be playing narrator or the sutradhaar for Shyam Benegal’s Samvidhaan, a 10-part mini-series on the birth of the Indian Constitution on Rajya Sabha channel.
Talking about the new role, Swara informs, “The show’s format is in the league of hugely popular, Bharat Ek Khoj series (Discovery of India), also directed by Shyam Benegal. It is based on historical research. I had no clue that the creation of Indian Constitution can be dramatised like this. Playing a narrator was such a novel experience.” Written by Shama Zaidi and Atul Tiwari, the show tells the story about how the constitution of India came to be, what it is and is based on the Constituent Assembly debates of 1946-1949.
The TV series features stalwarts of Hindi art cinema like Rajit Kapoor, Ila Arun, Dalip Tahil, Divya Dutta, KK Raina, Sachin Kedekar, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Tom Alter and Neeraj Kabi among others.
Recalling how she was approached for the role, the Delhi-based actress says, “I know Atul sir, since my theatre days and when he gave me a call that Benegal sir was looking for somebody for his docu-drama series, I jumped at the offer. He had asked me to meet him next day but I rushed to him the night, he called me. And the concept of the show blew me apart. Being a student of history myself, I completely loved the idea and warmed to it immediately.”
But why the role of narrator, when she could have played prominent political and historical figures? “I do not exactly fit the age bracket of the characters. Too much prosthetics would have been needed for my make-up. Although, it was a rigorous shoot, where we shot at the Indian Parliament for 2 weeks continuously from 9 to 5,” she responds.
Director Shyam Benegal is known to extract the best from his cast and crew. How was her experience working with him? She shares, “Fulfilling and enriching. Benegal sir is known as an erudite man with immense knowledge and eye for detail. Working with him was a learning experience. And he is also a thorough gentleman, who simply adores his team.”
Swara will also be seen in Abbas Tyrewala’s upcoming film, Mango. Talking about her character, she said, “My character is like Betty from Archie Comics. She’s really good and sweet. I’ve to retain the fun and cute element in my character.” She is also looking forward to signing two other films. “This year is going to be all about a lot of work,” she concludes.
