Deepti Naval On Playing Sadhna In Goldfish: My Character Is A Strong Woman, Despite Suffering From Dementia

Having wowed audiences across the globe with her stellar performances in a career spanning over four decades, Deepti Naval is all set to play Sadhna in director Pushan Kripalani’s film Goldfish. The Free Press Journal caught up with her for an exclusive tête-à-tête.

Reflecting upon her cherished work, Deepti recalls, “I’ve always tried to do something that I’m going to enjoy doing. I’ve always wanted meaningful roles. It’s another subject that in the process, I think I lost out on some fun roles. I could have laughed more on-screen. But I’ve thoroughly enjoyed each film that I was a part of.”

When asked what was it about Goldfish that drew her interest, Deepti replies, “My character is a strong woman, despite suffering from dementia. She’s been a classical singer all her life and she lives with that side of herself as an artiste from the past. That’s something that I could easily identify with because my mother suffered from dementia and Alzheimer’s. So, because I had already seen all of it up close and in person.”

She adds, “Also, the fact that Kalki (Koechlin) was going to play my daughter in the film was another point of excitement for me, because I admire her work a lot. I agreed even before reading the script, because she had agreed to be a part of the film. Also, Pushan (Kripalani) is a promising young director to work with. He is very talented.”

When asked if her generation of cinema and contemporaries could have initiated enough conversation over mental health, Deepti shares, “There always should have been more effort. There was such stigma associated with the words ‘mentally disturbed’ or ‘mental imbalance’. It was such a taboo. I, on my own account, have tried to do a lot of work towards the mentally ill by writing and talking about it. I’ve starred in films that dealt with mental health. I’m glad that now everyone seems to be talking about it."

She also confesses to a lesser-known fact about herself. “Not many know but I suffered from bouts of depression back in the 1990s. I used to channel my thoughts through writing and painting. I did not feel free to visit a therapist, so as a former student of psychology, I used to figure out ways of dealing with it by myself,” Deepti reveals.

On a parting note, Deepti concludes about Goldfish, “It will help you express the bond that you share with your parents for as long as they are around. It will remind you to live for the moment and spend as much time with your loved ones as possible.”