It comes as a surprise when one discovers that Vega Tamotia, in her seven years of acting career, hasn’t had a chance to play the quintessential heroine. Neither has she been part of a romantic comedy. “I get to do all this in Amit Sahni ki List . The script is funny and the comedy is situational and not slapstick. I just couldn’t say no,” says the actress, speaking about the Hindi film directed by Ajay Bhuyan, where she is pitched against Vir Das.
“Vir has done most of the comedy. He is so amazing in his craft and I had to work doubly hard to match up to him,” she says.
Sydney to Chennai
Amit Sahni ki List comes two years after Bedabrata Pain’s Chittagong , a small film that garnered much acclaim critically and in the pockets it released. “It was a fabulous experience,” recalls Vega. “Each of the films I’ve been a part of have been so different from one another,” she says.
Vega’s debut was in Tamil, in the title role of Saroja in the film directed by Venkat Prabhu. Vega belongs to Chattisgarh, spent 14 years in Australia and was ready to take up a career in economics in Sydney when she got an offer to act. “Not in the wildest of my dreams did I think I would become an actress. I had six months off between completing my studies and returning to Sydney to work. In between, I joined Swanand Kirkire’s team and was part of one of his musical comedies. Two days before the play was staged, I happened to meet Venkat Prabhu and within minutes, he said he wanted me to play the title role. I was ecstatic,” she recalls.
The action comedy didn’t require her to speak lengthy Tamil dialogues and she was in a safe zone. Soon, she was signed for debut director Pandiraj’s Tamil film Pasanga , which went on to win three national awards.
In both these films, Vega had de-glam characters to portray. “In Amit Sahni ki List , for the first time I had to take extra care about how I looked on screen — costumes, make-up and hair styling. I am usually comfortable in denims and tees. Having to look good on screen was the toughest part,” she laughs and emphasises that she still didn’t have to be a perfect heroine. “My look is Bohemian and yet attractive. I play a free-spirited woman who lives life to the fullest. The character is a lot like me in real life. The film was shot in Mumbai and I got to do bungee jumping. I am a huge adventure freak and have done all sorts of crazy things,” she says, pausing to catch her breath.
So far, Vega has been part of eight films and says she is instinctive in choosing her projects. “I may sound silly when I say I make up mind about a film within the first three minutes of story narration, but that’s how it works for me. On occasions, I have gone against this instinct and later regretted my decision,” she says.
A series for children
The big shift from Australia to cinema didn’t mean an end to her interest in economics. Vega was an executive producer for Chittagong and is now producing a series for children between the ages of 1 and 3. “ Ghotu Motu ki Tolle is a series with 10 micro episodes. We are developing an app and will be making the content available on online platforms; I am also in talks with television channels. We have very little home-grown content for children. I hope this series plugs that gap,” she says.
