Mirzapur has made me more confident as an actress: Anangsha Biswas

Anangsha Biswas, known for her roles in the short film Pratibimb, the features Ascharya Fuck It (2018) and Fraud Saiyaan (2019), will next be seen in the second season of the web-series Mirzapur. The actress shared her experiences about working on the heartland gangster show and her career so far.

You have been in OTT (Over-the-top) platform for quite some time. Tell us about your first experience.

My first OTT experience was Mirzapur 1. It seemed like a well-prepared execution of a few films together. The creative liberty that the platform offered was like a fresh breath of air.

How has Mirzapur changed your personality?

Mirzapur has made me more confident as an actor. I can't say it changed me, but the adulation I got for a three-scene role was overwhelming. It made my belief in "no role is small" stronger.

Tell us about your character Zarina. What do we expect out of her in Mirzapur 2?

Zarina is an over-ambitious small town entertainer. She is a go-getter who is addicted to power. There are a lot of layers to this character and it is very well written. Coming to what do I expect out of this part, expectation out of a role is a recipe for heartache. As an actor, I am thrilled to get such diverse opportunities to play such layered characters and can just hope that it touches the audience's heart.

Any insights from the shoot?

While shooting the Holi dance sequence I had an opportunity to exchange a few words with Pankaj Tripathi sir and realized what a nice down-to-earth human being he was. In the December cold, I was in a ghagra, which was drenched in rainwater, again and again. I was shivering and the ghagra weighed a ton after being drenched. But when the camera rolled, all I remembered is that I have given a good shot.

You are known for unconventional characters. What is your take on it?

Please pardon my prudence, but I always knew that I don't hail from a filmi lineage and my ethical upbringing does not allow me to take any shortcuts, hence my path of landing the kind of roles I want to do is going to be tough. Hence, I don't really judge a part by the tags "conventional" or "unconventional," rather I just see whether it's a performance-based role or not.

You have been on the silver screen as well as OTT, which one's your favourite space?

All mediums are good and they have their own pros and cons. I enjoy acting, essaying a good part, but yes, with Amazon, Netflix, Hotstar and other platforms like these, the content has become really audacious, the reach has increased.

Is there any major difference in both platforms as an actor?

In my humble opinion, web shows give us a lot of time (generally) for the prep work and even on set, there's no real hurry to finish. The focus is on getting the scene right, just like films. Television, I think works on major time constraints so the focus is more on finishing and delivering.

Which character is your most favourite from your acting career?

Ah, that's a tough one. If you follow my career graph till now, I have tried not to repeat a role, from Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana's demure widow Shama Singh Chatterjee, to Maaya 2's verbose lawyer Beena Jha, to Mirzapur's bold, hot, manipulative Zarina, to Hostage's lethal, agile, angry, violent Hyma.

Hence I'm in love with all these parts that I have essayed so far. They all have taught me so much and are so different from the person who I am. I love challenges and all these women characters were like a challenge to me.

Do you have any dream directors?

Of course, who doesn't? An artiste no matter what form of art, needs people, mentors who they can learn from. My list is long but it starts with Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Bhardwaj, and Zoya Akhtar.