Committing more than a decade to the Indian television industry, Jayati Bhatia’s name is incorporated amongst the most reputed and respectable actors of the industry today.
The elongated journey from a theatre actor to the voice behind the box office hit movie Barfi, is very much like a celebration for Jayati Bhatia, who plays an integral character in the popular Indian soap Sasural Simar Ka on the Indian channel ‘Colors.’ Being part of the industry for more than a decade now, Bhatia has outshined in the various roles she portrayed till date, including a daughter in the famous serial Kanyadaan, and today the character of a mother-in-law in Sasural Simar Ka.
Her odyssey in the acting industry was a land she never planned initially. Bhatia tells me she was thoroughly engrossed in learning Russian language and studying English Literature and the opportunity to be part of a play was unexpected. It was also on her first play that she met her husband Kiran Bhatia, “He pushed me into theatre.”
Originally a Bengali, Bhatia was born in Orissa, India but moved to Delhi when she was a month old. “Being a Bengali, all Bengali’s have to do either singing or dancing or painting, that is a tradition.” In line with her Bengali tradition, Bhatia was exposed to Bharanatayam by her mother but “because I was a softer person I think, they (parents) decided that they would put me into Odissi dance,” her teacher being Mayadhar Raut, who received the esteemed Padma Shri Award in 2010 – fourth highest civilian award in India – by former President of India, Prathiba Devisingh Patil.
But acting was where she was destined to be and that began with theatre. Being a student of Ebrahim Alkazi, the esteemed director who directed actors such as Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Om Shivpuri and many others, Bhatia tells me how under his four years training she changed as a “human being,” and further says “he changed me as an artist, I became a better dancer and a better actress.” Today she stands tall on the face of Indian television industry, with a full-fledged experience in acting.
Indian soaps are part of an everyday life of the Indian audience, who perceive these programs as identification with their culture, and Bollywood takes the expression of escapism. Bhatia exposes the perception of this industry from the eyes of an actor saying “A lot of people look down upon television, although it [Indian soaps] is very famous here, it is rather the thread between their life in Vancouver and their life in India. They love it but a lot of actors in television also look down upon television.” Why? She cites lack of “good content” as the reason behind her statement. Nevertheless, for Bhatia however, acting is something she has been following since a very young age as regards for her current character of Mata-ji (mother) she “absolutely loves playing the character.”
The audience is well acquainted with the lives of movie stars despite the fact that their encounter with television actors is on a daily basis. Many Bollywood actors including Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan have mentioned that work executed by television actors is much vigourous and hard compared to Bollywood actors. To this Bhatia responds saying that many actors are most uncomfortable in their own skin because they always want to be someone else.
One of the big achievements for Bhatia is her voice for narration in the movie Barfi, which was nominated as India’s entry, out of 20 films, at the Academy Awards in the ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ category. Bhatia however, speaks very modestly on this milestone. Barfi’s Director Anurag Kashyap, who also happens to be a very good friend of Bhatia’s, approached her for her part in Barfi. “Anurag said to me, ‘I’m finding something lacking…to thread the film I need a voice…a voice that speaks about Barfi from a perspective.’” Despite the much appreciation for her contribution to the movie, Bhatia says she would rather stick more to acting.
Last year she was part of the excellent team of performers who were scrutinized amongst a pool of artists across the Indian television industry, and put on the stage of Jhalak Dikh Laja – a dance reality show where professional choreographers share the stage with eminent personalities of the Indian television industry. “It was great fun. I had a great time because on stage, I love dancing, which everybody could see. I would be shivering just before the start but as soon as the music was on I would forget everything.”
Coming from a traditional Indian dancing background (Odissi), Bhatia had to experiment with dance forms she never imagined like Salsa and tap dance, however, she garnered a myriad votes in the following weeks and was the fifth person to be eliminated from the show. “Jhalak Dikh Laja has firstly given me back my confidence as a dancer and secondly, I got to meet amazing people like Karan Johar, Remo sir and of course Madhuri Dixit, and my co-dancers.” She further adds saying “Another thing that Jhalak Dikh Laja gave me was that people started knowing me as Jayati Bhatia because when you do a reality show people get to know your real name and your real personality. Otherwise for the past 10-12 years they knew me as my previous characters.”
Having played more than a dozen roles over the past many years, Bhatia today is a recognized name and face to the Indian audiences. Despite venturing on various roles in famous shows, Bhatia considers her character ‘Kavita’ in the show Kanyadaan as the closest one to her heart where she played the lead role. Nevertheless, she speaks highly of her current role as ‘Mata-ji’ in Sasural Simar Ka, “I love and enjoy playing Mata-ji.” For the future she looks forward to playing more of a serious character and says that unlike Bollywood, a television actor has “to be interested in their work in order to give a good performance,” which we know Bhatia devotedly imparts due to which she has garnered key roles in the television industry.
PHOTO : SSumeir Photography
