Most actors are of the opinion that the passion for theatre should always be alive in an artiste. Joy Sengupta agrees, but he also advices youngsters to not make theatre their life. When asked why he thinks so the versatile actor who juggles between his film and OTT commitments explains, “I love theatre, but I don’t think it’s a feasible work option to keep your house running and to take care of a family. And this is coming from a person who dedicated 20 years of his life to theatre. My work has been appreciated, but I hardly earned from it. Just for my fun or selfishness, I couldn’t continue to ruin my family’s life. You need to take responsibility and earn. Yes, my work in theatre made it easy for me to get work in the film industry because I had either worked with a lot of people from the industry or people had seen me perform on stage.”
At a time when almost all the public figures are extremely cautious about making statements related to current issues or the system in general, Joy is unabashedly politically incorrect. “I don’t know if being politically incorrect is right or wrong. I say things that I feel. The intent is not to hurt anyone,” says the seasoned actor. But it comes at a cost. “If I like a few things about a person or a party, I’ll say it. If I like something about their rivals, I’ll say that too. But one or the other side gets offended because of this. I think these are things that aren’t in my control. But that’s fine,” he opines.
For Joy Sengupta, theatre will always be special, “Stage is a place where one could be anything - I could be shy, gregarious and go back to being shy again because I am not an extrovert. Theatre is for actors. Movies are for many other people. After you have trained in theatre, memorised lengthy dialogues, doing movies is just a breeze. Theatre is great for the adrenaline - you are there, nervous, about to throw up and you go on stage knowing there’ll be no cuts. It is more immediate than one can expect in a film. I like the best of both theatre and films and am glad I get to do both.”
The powerhouse actor will next be seen in the Bengali film ‘Mon Patanga’.