PRAKRITI ROY finds out why lagaan’s heroine Gracy Singh has been on and off air throughout her career
Gracy Singh may not have had too many movies to her credit but the ones she has are enough to keep her alive in the minds of viewers. Her most popular roles were those in lagaan opposite Aamir Khan and in Munnabhai MBBS opposite Sanjay Dutt and both of these got her a fan following because of her very simple yet beautiful on- screen presence.
She began her career 13 years back with the TV serial Amanat and is now back on the small screen with Santoshi Maa, playing the Goddess herself. Having worked with some big names of Bollywood, Gracy is no newbie to big budget and big scale productions. But switching from films to TV now, she did not feel there is much difference. “TV has become so grand these days. I felt like I am shooting for a big film and not a TV show,” she tells you.
Gracy was very excited to work on this show because she felt that the story is very positive and divine, something that each one of us need today. Her choice of TV show is not surprising considering how spiritual she is in real life and how closely she is associated with the Brahma Kumaris. While she has been absent from the screen for the last few years, she was definitely not too far from the stage or the performing arts “The medium is not too important for me. Each platform is a way for an artiste to connect to their audience,” Singh says
A Bharatnatyam dancer, she has been doing stage performances and dance dramas, participating in various programmes for the Brahma Kumaris. Because of her experience as a classical dancer, Gracy has had the opportunity of playing a goddess several times on stage, so playing Santoshi Maa was easy. “It’s a miracle. As soon as I start acting out my part, I automatically feel a divine connection,” she says.
A lot is being said about her look on the show. Gracy herself gave a lot of inputs for the goddess costume. “I made them change the crown so many times; I was just not getting that divine feeling,” she says adding that she didn’t have to put half as much effort into the acting as she did into designing.
While her focus right now is on her TV show, she is also working on a film Gandhi-The Hero, where she plays the role of a nun. Gracy believes only in doing work with which she can relate her own life. She is quite sure that all her work resonated with the youth of today.