Art and culture need to be celebrated every day, every moment: Ravi Sharma

An actor whose power packed performances made his name synonymous with the world of Assamese film and theatre. Among the many movies to his credit are Hiya Diya Niya, Barood, Nayak to name a few. Yes we are talking about Ravi Sharma.

Team VibesMojo caught up with him for a quick chat and here are the edited excerpts of the interview:

VM: Did you want to be an actor? Take acting as your career?

Well, not in the initial stage of my life, but later on, I realised that probably God has, you know, created me to be a part of this because this is where I feel at home. I love my work and I also love the love I get from the people of Assam. I think it’s a huge responsibility because art and culture is not just something to be put in a watertight compartment and to be kept away in a precious wardrobe. It is something which we need to nurture, something which we need to develop, it is something which we need to observe and study every day because our own culture represents, the idea and the personality of the state, the mood of the people the requirement of the people and we are generally stating the problems of the people in our art form. Entertainment is a part of daily life, because when we say or whatever story we create, or we portray, we always show the good happens to the good and bad happens to the bad people. So, this is a very general kind of message that we always spread. So, I think art and culture need to be celebrated every day, every moment. And it’s sad that in our state so far, artistes have been kept away as a very separate segment who comes in handy only during festivals whether it’s Bihu or Puja, So this is something very sad. We should be a made part of the society, involved in the largers scheme of things because we are people too who’ve got a say. We are people with opinion, we are people who’ve got people behind us, we got people who love us, who admire us. So, when we say something, it creates an impact, it creates a wave.

We must always celebrate art and culture. Say for example, if you want to know what people used to wear in the 70s or the kind of hairstyle people had in the 70s, where would you go? You go to the archives and you see films you see films of 70s. You get to see the mentality, the problems that we faced, as a society and as a human being in the face of the world. The art and culture and the products that we create, you know, give you a fair and wonderful idea about what happened, what is happening and what is going to happen. So it should not be kept in a watertight compartment.

VM: You have worked in several films. Have you ever come across a character that sounded very similar to the character that you have just finished playing? What do you do in such situations? 

RS: See, I’m a person who acts with a lot of feelings, and even when I’m performing on stage where my tears are not seen by the people, I put my hundred percent into it. So when I’m portraying a character, I am that character. Even if it’s a negative character that I’m playing, I always try and justify it to the point where I give my hundred percent. So this is how I’ve been doing my work all these days. And the only evidence that I get is from the satisfaction of the people that I see on their faces when they meet me. So I think so far, I’m going okay, and I’m very happy doing what I do.

VM: What advice would you give to yourself if you were young?

RS: This advice is not just for an actor or just for a journalist, this is for everyone. Everyone who is from a state like this (Assam), which is so culturally diverse, and we are so rich. Unlike many other states, which celebrates just Holi, which celebrates just Pongal, we celebrate everything. So we are people of varied taste and hence we have a huge responsibility. Just be honest, and feel proud about what you do. See, if a janitor is not proud of what he’s doing. If he thinks if he judges his work by the kind of pay he gets, then I think it’ll be a very big loss, he will not celebrate his work, he should understand the importance of his job. If he doesn’t clean, we will not step on a clean floor. So everyone needs to understand the importance of their job. And to do it with utmost honesty. So I ask everyone to be very honest on what they’re doing, be very clear on their thoughts, to be a true person, and work hard, that’s all. 

VM: Your projects in the pipeline?

RS: Yes, I’m shooting for Raghupati which is my baby. I’ve been working on it for the last three years. It’s my story, my script, and I’m doing the lead character. And I have a lot of old and new actors from the industry and we’ve already completed 80% of the shoot. After that, I’ll be busy with Barood II and it is a big brand. Barood I was a super-duper hit and Barood II will hopefully follow the same. So these are the two projects that I have in the pipeline.