Last Updated: February 20, 2023, 09:06 IST
Tillotama Shome stars in The Night Manager.
Tillotama Shome has been praised for her role in The Night Manager. She plays Lipika Saikia Rao, a version of Angela Burr originally played by actor Olivia Colman in the original.
Actor Tillotama Shome is riding high on the rave reviews that are coming her way for her performance as a RAW agent in Disney+ Hotstar’s latest series, The Night Manager, the Hindi adaptation of the 2016 British television series and author John Le Carre’s novel of the same name. The show sees her playing Lipika Saikia Rao, a version of Angela Burr played by actor Olivia Colman. But Shome decided to not refer to the source material and instead play her character without having her perception coloured.
In an exclusive chat with News18, she says that she is an ardent admirer of Colman and that she felt the pressure of stepping into her shoes for the recently released series co-starring Aditya Roy Kapur, Anil Kapoor, and Sobhita Dhulipala. “I hope Olivia Colman forgives me for whatever I’ve made out of her character (laughs). I didn’t watch the original series because I had different people telling me, ‘Oh, you’re playing Olivia Colman’s character!’ That freaked me out a little bit. I’m a huge fan of hers and I knew that if I watch it, it would be very difficult for me to unsee it. I had to make Lipika my own because the cultural context for a RAW agent in India and an agent in London are totally different,” elaborated Shome.
Recently, Kapoor exclusively revealed to us that Shome’s character made him ‘envious’ and given the chance, he would have loved to play the role she essayed in The Night Manager. Reacting to it, she says, rather overwhelmed, “Really? (laughs) I only had one scene with Anil Kapoor. We never met before the shoot for The Night Manager began. We never had any common social friends. On the first day of shoot, a few people told me that he was looking forward to meeting me and Saswata (Chatterjee; co-actor). I really didn’t understand why. But I was very touched by that message.”
Quiz her about what made collaborating with Kapoor an enriching experience and the Delhi Crime 2 (2022) and Sir (2018) actor shares, “When we started shooting, we had some opportunity to talk to each other. That’s when I realised what makes him so young and youthful. He’s so curious about people who aren’t a part of his usual context, engage with them and understand where they come from and who they are. That’s what makes him so evergreen. He’s not insular in his stardom. He doesn’t ever think about the many things he has achieved in a career spanning so many years and look down on young people.”
Talking about how he went on to inspire the artist in her, she remarks, “If I was also in the limelight and the talk of the town, I would perhaps then understand his curiosity about me because that kind of curiosity is seasonal. People became intrigued about you for a brief period of time when your show is coming out and then they forget you. But I saw the authenticity in his curiosity and that’s something I hope to learn and nurture.” She continues, “For as long as I live, I also hope to not ever be satisfied with what I know and what I feel I know. I’m really curious to grasp and learn and I’m so keen about new things. I saw all of this in him. I think it’s his youthful curiosity that makes him say such things.”
Known for her unconventional and off-beat choices and nuanced performances, Shome tells us that someday, she would love to play a flamboyant and larger-than-life character similar to the one Kapoor portrayed in The Night Manager. “One day, I hope I do have the acting chops, craft and charisma to play a character as larger-than-life as Shelly (Kapoor’s character in the show). That would be a far cry from who I am. If I can pull that off and become that tall in my head, I think playing a character like Shelly would be quite a challenge. I don’t know if I would succeed but it would be worth trying (smiles),” states the actor, who marked her acting debut with filmmaker Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding (2001).
