Women actors have lost their sense of identity, says Kiran Juneja Sippy as she gets candid with Unnati Joshi
As we enter Kiran Juneja’s house at Niti Bagh, a Yorkshire jumps on us. “Don’t worry it won’t bite,” she says.
“I look like a mess, don’t IIJ” she asks, looking graceful in her orange kurta.
Years ago Kiran made a power-packed entry on the small screen with the accolade-winning portrayal of Veerawali in Buniyaad and Ganga in Mahabharat. Today she is an artist, painter, director, producer and a teacher-to-be.
Imparting his knowledge through his Ramesh Sippy Academy of Cinema and Entertainment, the veteran filmmaker, Ramesh Sippy has ventured into another field.
“I am the MD and will also be taking classes,” she shares.
How did it happenIJ Asked about it, she takes a deep breath and says, “Dreams have to begin somewhere. It had started long ago, we used to discuss education from time to time and Sippy ji would say, ‘I want to start a school but I don’t know how to start, I really want to take this thought forward.’ And from last five years we figured that there has been a growth and expansion in our industry.
We are getting all the international work, be it VFX or animation because the labour is relatively cheap here. Web series have started now, digital media has picked up, social media is there. There are so many disciplines to learn and imbibe. That is when we seriously started thinking that we should start something as it’s the need of the hour.
Seventy per cent of the education is going to be practical and 25 per cent will be theory. By practical I mean the student will actually shoot a short film that will be written and directed by his peers. We have incorporated many other aspects so that every child has a personal view of film-making,” she says, articulating her vision.
We are sitting in her living room, sipping our coffee. Kiran points towards a painting and tells us, “That’s mine. There was a point in my life when I was obsessive about painting. I would just get up, not even eat breakfast and go directly to my studio. My husband had to literally drag me down for breakfast. So whatever I have done in my life, I have done with passion and commitment. It is very important in whatever you do. It gives you the sense of achievement. I am a self- trained painter and actor. I have this passion for learning as it gives me the opportunity to grow and learn. I have even written at times, directed and produced ventures. I have done interior decoration too. Anything creative gives me a great pleasure.”
Kiran feels that the current brigade of actresses has lost identity as everyone looks the same onscreen. “The only thing I feel sad about is that I think the women have lost their identity somewhere today. If you watch actresses like Sadhana, Sharmila Tagore, Madhubala and even Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit, each had their own style and personality. like Sadhana’s haircut. It was a regular fringe but she popularised it. Can you name anything like that todayIJ Unfortunately today’s actresses are being styled and I don’t know for what reasons they are afraid to break away. It’s very difficult to identify them onscreen. If it is a long shot you can’t, same hair, same clothes. I wish they would come out of this image trap,” she shares.
Ask her about her own style and she says, “I have a mix of everything. I don’t believe in following trends. I have a set of people working for me, I call them if I have a design in mind. I pick up a lot of stuff from my travels abroad. I might also pick up unbranded stuff if I like it. I do not wear what makes me look bad even if it’s trendy. You should know your selling points. You have good legs, show them. If you have bad legs, please keep them covered. Do not be a blind follower.”
Photo: Pankaj Kumar