In celebration of being Tilottama

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">Jean Paul Sartre once said, "In life, a man commits himself, draws his own portrait, and there is nothing but that portrait." Deep, subtle and honest- that''s Sartre and (yes) so is Tilottama Shome. The name will most definitely ring a bill when you remember Alice of the Monsoon Wedding fame. <br /><br />But if you think that the Mira Nair film is the only claim to fame of this Delhi- based actress then you will be grossly misunderstanding and misrepresenting Tilottama.For, the lady here is (undoubtedly) committed, has the insight to draw her own portrait but she also has the spunk to colour it as she wills. That she is an actress is just one of hues of that portrait. <br /><br />In town to conduct theatre workshops for children. Tilottama bares her raison d'' etre, "Acting is a dear part of my life but its not my whole life. I''ve no illusions about being an actor...for me, acting is just a road leading to somewhere else." Someone who describes herself as "a believer", Tilottama says, "I feel I have a mission in life and I want to make use of acting in achieving that mission." <br /><br />Make no mistake; she knows what she is about- after all she is a living testimony of how a "stammering introvert shy girl transformed to do theatre which was everything I could never do. But then I have this tendency to get attracted to the impossible." <br /><br />This tendency incidentally, also leads her to do the impossible- like (gasp) refusing to do <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Monsoon Wedding </span>because she had to give her MA English entrance exam! "When Mira asked me to audition for <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Alice</span>, of course I was ecstatic. But more so when I learnt that Mira is a guest lecturer at the Columbia University, where I wanted to go and study. The reason why I refused the film was because the shooting was clashing with my entrance exam, which was something I couldn''t miss because education is my real calling. But I guess the film was destined for me since the shooting got postponed for a month so I could attend to both the things." The fame and recognition that followed the film also doesn''t impress her much, "The world was going gaga over the film when for me it was history. I had moved on and told myself that if I bask in this glory then I''m dead." Just for the record, she is acting in Florian Gallenberger''s Shadows of Time.<br /><br />Another important aspect of being Tilottama is her work for Bharat Soka Gakkai- an NGO promoting peace, culture and education based on a Buddhist life philosophy. Describing this "as my big dream in life" Tilottama says, "I see myself contributing in education through culture and theatre." No wonder then, she gets more satisfaction developing content for education and theatre for the slum kids of Katha Khazana, a Delhi-based school. "Teaching maths through story telling to a child who has to walk five kilometers to fetch water is my real claim to fame and not <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Monsoon Wedding</span>. I am not shirking off the film but I am much more than it." You said it! </div> </div>