Gupta will be next seen in a UK-India co-production, The Hungry, with Naseeruddin Shah and Tisca Chopra. The film is based on Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus. She speaks to Guardian 20 about her upcoming film and past successes.
Q. You marked your presence in the industry with your role in the 2015 film Margarita with a Straw, and more recently, with your cameo in Jolly LLB 2. What’s your criterion for saying yes to a film?
A. It is very, very instinctive. If I go through any script without taking a break, then I am pretty sure that I am working on it. It is holding my attention. Also, the story should be compelling enough and if I think that I should be a part of the story and I should tell it then I say yes to it. And the character should be something that I can explore a lot and challenges me as a performer. The length of the film doesn’t matter to me. Even if it’s a one-scene or two scene-film, and it is a powerful role, then I don’t mind doing it. My role in Jolly LLB 2 was a real rooted character and I didn’t want to it seem that an actor has given a good performance. So, there are characters where you can’t even imagine happening it in real life so, you have to empathise with it and feel it.
Q. You will be seen next in The Hungry with Naseeruddin Shah and Tisca Chopra. How did you bag this role?
A. The casting director of the film called me for an audition for the first round and then they called me up again for the second round. I think the first time they were sure that they wanted me for this role. And as I read the script, I was really blown by it. And when you audition for any film, you also come to know how it has been written and how the scenes are progressing, so I am really happy to be a part of this film with such a star cast.
Q. How was it working with the legendary Naseeruddin Shah? And also with Tisca Chopra?
A. So, Naseer sir was my teacher at the FTII [Film and Television Institute of India]. He was a guest faculty and had taken some workshops here. He has been a very big influence on me since my childhood, and in class specially he was an amazing teacher. He is such an invested teacher. It is very rare that someone wants to share their knowledge with you. He is such a big-hearted man. He talked about basic things about acting in our class and it was like a revelation. And then to share screen space with him was such a joy and tremendously special. The fact that I’m working with him in such a short duration of my career is extremely rewarding. He is playing my father in the film and it is beautiful. And when it comes to Tisca, I love her work. I had seen her in Qissa where she was really beautiful — very, very nicely edged part and a wholesome performance. I had heard about her from a lot of our common friends, and finally working with her was a good experience. She is very warm and a solid performer. We worked like a family on the sets.
Q. You won the Best Actress Award at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles ( IFFLA ) for your international short film called Leeches. Tell us about this.
A. Leeches is directed by Payal Sethi. She was based in New York for many years and now is in Bangalore. She is Mira Nair’s associate. The casting director, Anmol, called me and said there’s a short film and that it’s really good and that I was being given a really good part. So I went for the audition. The character was of a young, 15-year-old Muslim girl — it was her story, a very interesting middle-class story from Hyderabad. We shot for 11-12 days in Hyderabad, with me literally in a burkha. It was really an interesting experience and I got to interact with so many different people from the finest corners of the city. The story was also very compelling as the elder sister is protecting her younger sister from getting sold off. And it is still prevalent in many cities. The film is being featured at many festivals and so, you feel good about it.
“If I go through any script without taking a break, then I am pretty sure that I am working on it. It is holding my attention. Also, the story should be compelling enough and if I think that I should be a part of the story and I should tell it, then I say yes to the script.”
Q. You will be playing the character of a 14-year-old girl in your next film, Jagga Jasoos. Was it tough to play a teenager?
A. It’s the best casting of my life. I love dada [Anurag Basu] to have had the imagination to see me as a little girl who is all of 14 years. I loved his audition process as well, it was so simple. He is quite the genius and this character will always be very close to my heart. People who have seen me in the look can’t believe that I am not a teen [laughs]. I remember I had cut my hair and went for the audition and dada was quite surprised because actors don’t do these things before they have gotten the part. And once I went on set on the first day of shoot, we started finalising the look for the character. I insisted that I should cut my hair. But with Ranbir’s [Kapoor] help, I finally managed to convince dada. He was super happy with the look. And then I just got stuck in this short-hair look for over two years now. And I love it.
Q. What about theatre? Do you get the time to do it?
A. Theatre is something that I have always wanted to do and want to be associated with it. Theatre is my first love. I wanted to become an actress because I loved theatre so much. It is very different. It lets people read your emotions and let them react. I would like to be a part of it, but unfortunately, I am not getting the time to do it. But I was working with Rajat Kapoor for a show some time back, but at the moment, I don’t think so, I have the time to do it.