A literary actress
By Lakshmi Menon

TARA DESHPANDE wears many hats — popular theatre actress, champion chess player, successful ramp model, author of Fifty and Done, accomplished Kathak dancer... But she is best known as Dolly — the wannabe actress who ends up as Naseeruddin Shah’s moll in Bombay Boys.

Tara has done other films as well. But as she points out: "The problem with Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin was that it was badly marketed. In Bada Din, I was merely a show-piece. It had a strong script, but then scenes were deleted to accommodate songs. That is why it bombed".

With Bombay Boys the experience was altogether different. "The director, Kaizad Gustad, gave me a stupendous role. Life has changed since then — more responsibilities, less privacy. I have to live up to certain expectations now".

Till two years ago, Tara could never have imagined that she would land up in movies one day. Her schooling in Bombay’s Cathedral and John Cannon, plus the quiet. Victorian upbringing in the upmarket Marine Drive neighbourhood made Bollywood seem quite remote.

"Karisma Kapoor was a year senior to me in school," she narrates. "My only other contact with Bollywood was an old gentleman. A.R. Kardar, who made Dilip Kumar’s Dil Diya Dard Liya. He lived in my building. As a child, I’d watch old movies at his place".

At that time, if there was any profession that fascinated her, it was of being a "great writer". In fact, she won a writing scholarship abroad, but because of her kathak classes, she opted out.

"I need to mention this because people tend to identify me with the character of Dolly in Bombay Boys", explains the 24-year-old. "I have never been in her shoes. I was never desperate to be an actress. I have a sound educational background with theatre and writing to fall back on.

"I have seen scores of junior artistes leaving their education half-way to make it in films. When they don’t, they are disillusioned. Worst of all, because they’ve quite education, they can’t get a job elsewhere. Giving up studies is the silliest thing one can do. It’s like jumping off a cliff".

Clearly, to prove a point, she took time out of work to pen Fifty and Done — a collection of 12 short stories and 38 passages of verse in the form of a travelogue. Harper Collins has published the book and its screenplay version is now ready to hit the stands.

The credits in the book aptly describe the person she is: "Thanks to my father from whence the poetry came and to my mother without whom this would have been impossible and futile. They say I love too much, too soon, too completely. And when I ask for nothing, they believe me..."

One of Tara’s uncles is an Admiral in the Indian Navy, another is the managing director of Crompton Greaves and a third teaches in Harvard. How do they react to her association with the mindless world of Hindi films?

"I am enjoying films," she replies. "There are some films you do for money, some you do for creative satisfaction. It’s important to strike a balance between the two. Happily, my family and relatives have full trust in me and in how I manage my life".

As an afterthought, she adds: "I agree that with my kind of family background, films may appear to be some kind of an aberration. But then, shouldn’t one do what he or she is comfortable with? In any case, I will never give up writing or theatre".

Rumours about her proximity with co-actor Rahul Bose (of English August fame) are flying fast. "Rahul and I are buddies," she stresses.

"Honestly, I haven’t got into a serious relationship yet. If and when I do, it won’t be someone from the film industry. That is for sure!"