Actress-producer Namita Lal, who is known for her projects Lihaaf, Football-The Goal, and Oxygen and will soon be seen in Inn Galiyon Mein, says that she considers herself lucky to have got to play very strong characters. She adds that she has learnt something from each of her roles.
“I have been extremely fortunate in the ten films that I’ve done to play very strong female characters, strong in the sense that they have been individuals in their own right. From Rabbo, the masseuse in Lihaaf, who looks after Begum Jaan, an iconic character I played both on stage and in film, to Dr Radhika in Before Life After Death, a woman dealing with grief and, through love, coming to terms with her family and her pain. My latest role is playing Amma in Inn Galiyon Mein, a vegetable seller in the lanes of Lucknow. Inn Galiyon Mein, which is going to be released on March 14th. It’s an extremely interesting character, and I’m excited for it to be revealed on the big screen. Then there’s Nikhat in Oxygen, recently released on ZEE5, a determined forest officer who, while working for the department, also cares deeply for the entire community around her. She even confronts her boss on significant issues,” she says.
She adds, “There was also Rekha in Football, which is out on Shemaroo and YouTube, a football player in her college days who continues to play, teach children, and plays a big part in encouraging the protagonist to live his dreams. These are just a few of the characters I have played in the films I’ve done. Soon to be released is Country of Blind, where I play Maitriya, the strongest woman or character in a village. Then there’s the forthcoming movie, which I did with Vinay Pathak, where I play a strong woman who runs a rest house. All these characters are extremely different and rich in personality. I’ve loved playing them all, and they’ve deeply resonated with me because they’ve given me a chance to portray women from different fields and social classes. It’s been a great journey.”
However, she adds that while women have stronger roles to play, actresses still fight for pay equality in the industry. “As for pay disparity, it exists in every industry. It’s a slow process to reach equality, but in the film industry, it’s often based on commercial dynamics. Abroad, you have women like Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet who carry entire films on their shoulders and get paid as much as their male counterparts. I believe India is slowly heading in that direction as well,” she says.
She adds, “The change I would love to see in the industry is more strong female characters in web shows and films which are strong. Shows like Delhi Crime, led by Shefali Shah, and Mirzapur 3, with its strong female roles, are great examples — but you can still count them on your fingers. Most Indian web shows remain very male-centric. When I watch content from Europe, America, Iran, Afghanistan, Japan, and Korea, I see incredibly strong women portrayed with depth and nuance. These women have a real place in the story, and that’s something I’d love to see more of in Indian cinema and television. The recent Oscars also proved this point, the women from independent films who won Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor played some amazing, powerful characters.”
Ask her who the women she looks up to, and she says, “The one woman who has been an inspiration for me in my life has been my grandmother on my mother’s side, my nani.Nani, widowed at a very young age, had two young children, she managed not only to bring up an amazing set of kids but also to remain incredibly independent and liberated. She used to travel alone. She would go live with her daughter, her son, and with me when I had an independent house. She also played a big part in bringing me up. I’ve had a lot of values instilled in me by her, and the most important one was living in love. She just loved being with people. She showered love on everyone she interacted with, and that’s what I learned from her, the importance of living in love. I am very grateful to have had her in my life and even now, I need her, I still talk to her because somewhere, she is an angel for me.”
