Panihati girl bags ‘best actress’ award in Chinese film festival

KOLKATA: A Panihati girl has won the top award at the 13th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF). Aditi Roy Maelzer, also known as Mia Maelzer, whose ‘Stolen’ was the only Indian entry at Venice Film Festival last year, has won the Tiantan Award for best actress at the official competition section of BJIFF for her portrayal of a mother from the marginalised community who lost her child.

The Tiantan Award comprises a maximum of 17 full-length feature films and includes 10 award categories — best feature film, best director, best artistic contribution, best leading actor, best leading actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, best screenplay, best cinematography and best music. While Karan Tejpal has won the best director award, Isshaan Ghosh was adjudged the best cinematographer award for the same film.

Maelzer was in “total shock” when she received the news of having bagged the award. “I didn’t know that I was nominated for something so important until I won the award. When my family sent me the screenshot of the news, I realised it is a really big award and we made a hattrick as a team. Karan was the first one who gave me this news. I am still processing it because it is my first international award as an actor,” she told TOI.

Female actors from Bengal have inspired her. “I studied Sreela Majumdar and Seema Biswas for this role. Then, there were the likes of Supriya Devi and Sandhya Roy. They all sit in my subconscious but I try not to copy anyone,” she said.

It was a long process for Mia to get under the skin of her character. It took over three years of research and investigation to find the person she played on screen from a character sketch given to her. “I had to find the dialect, the backstory and her inner voice almost from thin air. As reference, I fell back a lot on the women I managed to meet from similar backgrounds,” she said.

Getting the look of her character was also challenging. Mia, who has a toned figure, had to put on little weight to look like a new mother. “Since I had a ballet figure, it was not easy for me to break that. It was only possible because organically my director and coaches built this journey for me over a period of time. Once the body was ready, the mind just followed,” she said.

Talking about her performance in the film, she said the toughest was the scene in a bathroom when she actually realises that her child has been stolen. “Not just this film, it was the toughest moment in my life. I don’t know how Karan pushed me there but maybe because he is indeed one of the best directors I have got a chance to work with,” she concluded.



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