Swati Bhise
A dancer, actress, hostess, orator and social worker — Bhise has now ventured into production work with The Man Who Knew Infinity, a film based on the life and times of mathematician Ramanujan. Bhise also runs a Sanskriti Centre in New York and considers herself a vocal patron of Indian culture. The talented executive producer talks to SANGEETA YADAV about her experience working with her daughter Devika Bhise and the projection of Indian culture in movies made in Hollywood. Excerpts of the interview
‘Art is the best way to show Indian culture’
You are working for a Hollywood film based on the life of Indian mathematics wizard Srinivasa Ramanujan. How did that happenIJ
India is the land of amazing stories but sadly very few people know about it. Geniuses like Ramanujan have not passed out of elite colleges and nor do they have any airs about themselves. Great people like him make the most exciting stories. We need to look around and search for such stories that need to be told. I feel proud to be associated with the movie. When you have seasoned actors like Jeremy Irons and Stephen Fry acting in this film, you get confident that it’s going to be a good film to look forward to.
What prompted you to be an executive producer of The Man Who Knew Infinity (TMWKI)IJ
The film happened accidently. When the production team signed my daughter Devika Bhise to play the lead role of Janaki in this film, they were looking for someone who can help them in their research work and projection of Indian culture on the big screen. They mailed me a copy of the script and wanted to know my suggestion. But I ended up making a lot of changes like inserting shlokas, re-working on the costume, make-up, and many more. That’s when they decided to enroll me as creative consultant. Many times, the production team used to be very upset with my ways but I told them to bear with me.
You never wanted to work on the film sets. Is that trueIJ
Working on the sets was never in my agenda. Though I have worked as a part of the production team for my Bharatnatyam performances, it was never my first love. Before this film, I got a lot of offers from Hollywood to be the Indian cultural counsellor for their film. Coming from a Bharatnatyam background, I am very vocal that Indian sanskriti should be presented correctly in films. Art is the best way to reach out to the masses and this is the correct way to represent Indian culture at an International podium.
How was it working with your daughter in this filmIJ
On the sets we are thorough professionals. I don’t like to overlap my projects with her. I turned down the offer to work with her in The Accidental Husband and Devadasi. Devika never used my name to get what she wanted. She always represented herself. It was her choice to get into films and I never stopped her. But I will always be there for her as a constant support.
Was it difficult to be a mentor to DevikaIJ
I never wanted to be her teacher or mentor as I have seen when a child is forced to learn from the parent, he/she starts resenting after a point of time. But when Devika was a child, she fought with me and urged me to teach her Bharatnatyam and Natyashastra. That day, she perfectly recited shankara varnam song which she learnt by listening to me and that touched my heart. I went to my husband and told him that I’ll mentor her.
She grew up in a creative ambience where music, dance, theatre and literature is given a lot of weightage. The first Bollywood film which she saw was at the age of nine. And she immediately wanted to try that form of art. I did not want to stop her.