Mithila Palkar On Fame, Films & Finding Her Calling: 'I Always Wanted To Be An Actor'

Mithila Palkar always had one clear goal: to get where she wants. She always aimed at becoming an actor, and now is a remarkable success on stage, big screen and small.

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She prefers a face-to-face interaction. Her reason? “I love to talk!” A deep quote: “I have been lucky with the people department in my life!” Our deeper study into Mithila-ogy begins.

Excerpts from the interview:

It’s been 10 years since you started. What have been the highlights and the low lights?

I would say just highlights. I sang my Marathi cup song inspired by Anna Kendrick’s Cup Song, Hee chaal turu turu, a version of the legendary Jaywant Kulkarni’s iconic Marathi hit, in 2016. That was really the turning-point as well as my starting point. That really put me on the map, even if only as a singer. After that, my serial, Girl in the City and my films, Muramba and Karwaan and the series, Little Things happened.

Ten years ago, music was in a different space. Now it is majorly changed. How do you see this?

I think the Indie space has opened a lot and we are seeing a lot of interesting things. Most film music has become repetitious, I agree, but I am revisiting music from the 1990s.

What do you like to sing?

Anything: Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu! I am learning music from my close friend, Avanti Patel, a fantastic musician. I reached out to her because I just want to orient myself to the musical scale, because I would feel like a fraud when I was called to sing!

You have acted in films in Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu. How comfortable are you dubbing for the South languages, as you are a linguist so far as songs are concerned?

Singing is vastly different from speaking dialogues. I have not dubbed for my South films, but I have to learn the lines to enact the scenes. I love that challenge, to emote correctly in a language I don’t understand!

You began as a ‘stage hand’ in theatre, and became a huge success. How does it feel to have achieved so much?

It’s been a surreal journey, and I couldn’t have planned it better! My goal was to be an actor first and then a better actor than I was yesterday. I have done some plays too, including Dekh Behen, which has staged over 120 performances since 2018.

Three top stars, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn, cast you in their productions, though you were on screen only with Akshay, as his sister in Bhooth Bangla. How were those experiences?

Aamir and I did not have any scene together in Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos. But he is a hands-on producer and would always be around. Tribhanga was a full-on female drama, and the energy on sets was electrifying, because that it is also what Kajol ma’am is all about: very full of life. But I never met Ajay-sir!

That leaves Akshay Kumar.

He is too much fun! Everything you have heard about Akshay—his discipline, his pranks—is all true. We played Ludo and I lost a lot of money to him. He had this winning streak and I had to pay up!

How was the experience of doing Bhooth Bangla with Priyadarshan?

The man is a legend! Bhooth Bangla has been an experience like never before. Priyan-sir has done almost 100 films and is a visionary! In his head, his film is there with edits, so if there is a dialogue with five lines, he knows exactly which line should come from which camera angle. You say two lines, and he stops you and changes the angle. He will not take extra shots or preserve a sequence from different angles just for safety.

Your most recent outing is Super Subbu.

I play the daughter of a pastor and wants to be an actor. The story is about a young man who is a Sex Education Officer in a village and I play a key role in his life.

Most of your work has been in the comic zone. Do you specially enjoy that? Even Little Things and Karwaan had a lot of humor.

I did not realize that until you said this! But it is only this year that I got to do two total comedies.

Comedy, even Akshay and Ajay have stated, is the most difficult part of acting. Do you agree?

It is! Because sometimes when you are doing it you feel that you have to play the joke, so you can end up going overboard. From day one, both my directors, Priyan-sir and Vir-sir, were very clear that we had to act the line out, and their brief was “Don’t play the comedy out”. You have to be able to do that with conviction as it is the audience alone that has to laugh.

There was a controversy about some industry people believing that Prajakta Koli and you come as a package deal, like a music duo for example.

(Laughs) I wouldn’t call that a controversy, but yes, many times that would happen in ads, shows and more. People thought that if Prajakta came on board, then Mithila will come, and vice-versa. Prajakta and I are professional individuals. She is incredible and I would love to work with her, but that should happen organically.

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How did your friendship start?

We met at a photoshoot for a newspaper when my cup song and her video both went viral around the same time. We spent the entire afternoon waiting there and talking about fish, crabs, food and each other. And the rest is history.

How did the acting bug bite you?

Perhaps it was always within me. In my school you could always find me everything—the choir, dramatics, dance—except in class:. When I was 12, I went on stage for the Annual Day and I felt a liberation and happiness as something to which I wanted to hold on.

I grew up with my maternal grandparents and the deal was that I must graduate first to follow my dream. I did so, in Mass Media, but initially they were sceptical as I was seen only on the Internet, a new medium they did not understand. They only knew TV, posters and films. Gradually, I introduced my grandfather to YouTube and he realized that when I left for work, I was actually working!

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