Anangsha Biswas on her tryst with theatre, lessons learnt from Naseeruddin Shah and more

She has had some really impressive experience while working on the OTT in critically acclaimed shows like ‘Hostages’ and ‘Mirzapur’ and now Anangsha Biswas is all set for her Bengali debut. The super talented actress will soon be seen in Sunny Ray’s upcoming thriller ‘Bishakto Manush’.

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Anangsha has a huge background in theatre as well which has taught her so many things. The one thing about theatre she always remembers is discipline, “I have learned so many things from my stint with theatre. It has not just helped me grow as a performer but also as a human being. My time with theatre has taught me the importance of humility and to respect time. It has also made me confident enough to trust my abilities and to remain a lifelong learner. I now realize that being an actor no one can know it all and is a work in progress for all the time,” the actress shares with ETimes during an excluisve chat wioth ETimes.

The talented actor insists she has always been conscious about not repeating herself. “Otherwise I won’t be excited to play a character, and then how can I give my 100 percent? If a role doesn’t excite me, then what will be the point in playing it? I don’t look for a lot of work, but I choose wisely. Also, there’s always a chance of getting stereotyped. These things happen a lot here, explains Anangsha who also featured in the 2012 film ‘Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana’.

Incidentally, Anangsha’s paths crossed with theatre back in her school days with Shakespeare plays. Then, in Mumbai, she was lucky enough to join Akvarious Theatre. “I feel so lucky that I got the chance to work with acting stalwarts such as Naseeruddin Shah, Akash Khurana, Benjamin Gilani to name a few. Then I was part of a French Production in which I worked with Farid Currim. I even did a Vipul Shah production sharing stage with Shefali Shah, and A Salim Arif production gave me the chance to work with Harsh Chaya. In the first few years in Mumbai I tried to be involved only with theatre and soaked as much craft that I could.”

The actress did her first play in Mumbai in Prithvi Theatre – ‘Women in waiting, Men on the line’, in which she acted with stalwarts. Sharing her experience of working with Naseeruddin Shah and what she learned from him, Anangsha says, “Naseeruddin sir taught me to be natural and how you can slip into a character. I learned the very basics of acting and it is you can’t pretend something or being fake. It’s the process of finding the honesty within yourself so that you can relate to the role you have to portray. He also taught me that discipline is a must for any artist. I now know that without discipline art cannot flourish.

The talented actress who was launched by Sudhir Mishra in ‘Khoya Khoya Chand’ (2005) also feels that the OTT platforms opened a new direction for so many talented actors. “There are quite a few actors like me whose only support is their talent and OTT became a life-saving platform, giving the chance tp play well-crafted characters. Making films is a huge responsibility with so much money behind it and that’s why producers often think twice before signing actors who are still trying to make a name for themselves. But on OTT, good actors who are still struggling to make a mark are getting offered good roles instantly. However, now that so many big stars are also trying their luck on OTT it’s getting difficult for the medium to remain the same as it used to be.”