Actor Tillotama Shome has opened up about playing an Assamese police officer in the web series Paatal Lok 2. Speaking with India Today, Tillotama shared why it was important to ensure that she did justice to her role as a Nagamese-speaking Assamese woman. Tillotama played Meghna Barua in Paatal Lok 2. (Also Read | Anurag Kashyap says he broke down after watching Paatal Lok season 2: ‘I am in awe of Jaideep Ahlawat’)
Tillotama on her role in Paatal Lok 2
Tillotama said, “It was a source of worry for me that when you are a Bengali, you are representing a character who is Assamese, speaks Nagamese, you don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings because your representation made them feel like, ‘Gosh! Couldn’t they get an Assamese person to play this character’?”
She added, “Also, I was very aware that this might happen, and it pushed me to work harder. So that the representation feels humane, and it feels humane enough for people to overlook the mistakes I may have made, or not. I work very hard on that. That was very important for me because the Northeast is, anyway, misrepresented, under-represented, and I didn’t want to add that fuel to the fire by also not catching the language properly. So, it was very important for me.”
About Paatal Lok 2
Paatal Lok 2 also features Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Gul Panag, Nagesh Kukunoor, Jahnu Barua, and Prashant Tamang. Avinash Arun Dhaware has returned to direct the second season of the Sudip Sharma-created Paatal Lok. Produced by Clean Slate Filmz, in association with Eunoia Films, the eight-episode web series is currently streaming on Prime Video.
About Tillotama’s new film
Tillotama will be seen in Baksho Bondi. First-time filmmakers Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi are directing the film, titled Shadowbox in English. It is a co-production between India, France, the US, and Spain.
Baksho Bondi also stars Chandan Bisht, Sayan Karmakar and Suman Saha in pivotal roles. Vikramaditya Motwane, Jim Sarbh and Nikkhil Advani serve as executive producers of the film. The film is produced by Naren Chandavarkar, Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Saumyananda Sahi.