One of the acts that premiered at the Bonjour India Festival was Gates to Indian Song (GTIS), a play directed by French director Eric Vigner. Though it’s an Indo-French co-production by a French director, this play has popular Indian actor Nandita as playing multiple roles in it. The play is an adaptation of the novels India Song and The Vice-Consul by French writer Marguerite Duras.

“This is a very unique play. I am not simply playing the French Ambassador’s wife, Anne-Marie Stretter, but also the collaborative writer and the beggar woman. The challenge was not only the switch between these characters, but also to understand the intent behind this kind of literature,” says Nandita, who is playing the lead opposite her husband, Subodh Maskara. Having recently directed and acted in a play titled Between the Lines, Nandita wanted to explore something new with this piece of work. “When I first read the script, I didn’t understand anything.

I thought it was too esoteric for me. But Eric, who was passionate about trying out new ways of doing theater and interpreting literature, made me curious about experiencing something new,” says Nandita. So what has kept Nandita away from Bollywood for quite some time now? “I have always been on the fringes of Bollywood and have indulged in different things,” answers Nandita. “The Children’s Film Society, the advocacy for human rights issues and a monthly column that I write for a magazine, have kept me busy. But I have begun reading scripts and might do a couple of projects in the near future.”