Mukti Mohan is happy with the positive response her role in the web series Inmates has received. The dancer talks about taking up acting and why she connected with the series
Mukti Mohan’s latest web series TVF’s Inmates is getting a lot of attention on YouTube. The dancer has impressed critics and her fans with her role. Mukti, who is kicked about the positive response, says, “I knew I could act. That’s the feedback I was getting from my family, friends and fans. I have been doing theatre for three years but facing the camera is a different thing.”
Mukti says that initially, she did not see herself playing a DJ. “I am also playing a lesbian and a feminist. She is quite bossy. I couldn’t relate to this character, but Abhishek Baneerjee, the director, wanted me to give it a try. The makers liked it and so I played along,” she says.
The dancer-actress says that they did proper workshops and rehearsals before the shoot. “It’s a different kind of experience — fun and enriching,” she says and adds that for the audience to connect with their respective characters, actors have to be honest. “If you are not playing the character with emotions, then people won’t connect with it.”
Inmates is about a group of youngsters, who live together. How would she handle a similar situation in real life? “I have lived in a hostel for nine years. I used to stay with this crazy bunch of girls. We have done some insane stuff. We were very mischievous, but we also studied. We used to stay awake late, scare each other. In fact, I used to wait to get back to the hostel,” she recalls.
The dancer, who has participated in reality shows like Jhalak Dikhhla Ja and Khatron Ke Khiladi, says that television and web are diverse mediums. “TV works on TRP, which you get to know after a week. On television, you calculate the popularity of the story in terms of money. While on web, the reaction of the audience is instant. If they don’t like your content, they will immediately share their reactions. I believe web is the future because the audience gets to watch content on phone. Also, the kind of content on web is amazing,” says Mukti, who is the sister of singer, Neeti Mohan and actress-dancer Shakti Mohan.
She adds that as an actor, the medium doesn’t matter to her. “It could be any medium but the honesty of the character and storytelling is important. I want people to come up to me and say, ‘I have never imagined you in this character’. Most people don’t see beyond my dancing skills, but I am loving the kind of work and people I am getting associated with.”
She attributes this outlook to her stint with theatre. “I have been collaborating with Patchwork Theatre Group. We do a lot of improvisation, make a play out of a paragraph. I have come to learn that you can become a character easily. I have done a lot of workshops with them. I have learnt to express through my body, face, eyes, and even the back. In fact, being in theatre has opened my eyes about acting,” says the actress whose first play will be staged in December. She will also be seen in another web series.