दीप्ति नवल: 'मिस चमको' सिर्फ़ रुपहले पर्दे पर ही नहीं चमकीं

कहानी ज़िंदगी की

In this episode of Kahaani Zindagi ki, actress Deepti Naval reflects on her journey from a childhood in Amritsar to her education in America

Key takeaways

• Deepti Naval's father, a linguist, introduced her to the works of Byron and Keats, shaping her academic foundation.
• A chance encounter with Balraj Sahni in Amritsar provided the pivotal moment that sparked her acting aspirations.
• She developed her acting technique through intense self-observation in a mirror rather than formal training.
• The period following her marriage in the 1980s brought significant professional and personal challenges, including deep depression.
• Writing and painting served as essential therapeutic tools to navigate periods of emotional darkness.

Main topics

• Childhood in Amritsar
• Education in America
• Acting methodology and self-training

Notable quotes

Life teaches you... no trainer better than life for an actor.

Conclusion

The episode offers a moving testament to the power of resilience and t

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:00) This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Speaker 2 (0:39) Kahaani Zindagi ki BBC ke ish behat khas program mein aaj hain aapke saath aapki Priya Abhinetri Deepti Naval jo ke khud ek lekhak, chitrakar aur filmmaker bhi hai. Bhot bhot swagat hai Deepti ji. Speaker 1 (0:53) Thank you Irfan sahab. Thank you. Bhot muddat ke baad koshish karte karte hum yaha pe pohaj gayen. Aakhit kaar. Speaker 2 (1:01) Aapse pehle to jaanna chahenge bhot sketchy tohar par. Your formative years, where you were born, what kind of family you had, and then your journey Speaker 1 (1:11) to Speaker 2 (1:11) America and back to Mumbai. So all this... Speaker 1 (1:42) Best possible, sketchy. Speaker 1 (2:04) Government College Lahore. And then my parents got married in 1948. And then my father started studying at Hindu College as a professor of English. And my mother was teaching in school also, but she was a painter basically. Speaker 1 (2:35) So, coming from a very academic background, Speaker 1 (2:42) Whenever my father used to ring the bell at the gate, we would immediately take the books and sit down to show that we were reading. But of course, those things, your mental makeup becomes like that. Because father was a linguist, so he was very fascinated with words and language. So I always saw my parents discussing at the dining table that sometimes Byron Keats' poetry was discussed. Speaker 1 (3:19) So I think I grew up with that. She was very fond of singing and plays. Speaker 1 (3:42) So that became part of me. I didn't have to look elsewhere. So that was it. Speaker 2 (4:00) So how many siblings do you have? Speaker 1 (4:06) And a younger brother, Rohit. My sister is called Smriti. Rohit is 8 years younger to me. Both of them are in America. And you three, did Speaker 2 (4:15) you only have an interest in writing, reading, painting, writing poems, acting? Yes, Speaker 1 (4:24) my family had an enthusiasm for Speaker 2 (4:32) art. Speaker 1 (4:33) All the members. My sister. Very fond of music, very fond of cinema. My brother also, although he is in a computer. But everybody was an art enthusiast, just like my father. My mother was a painter, but my father was a very big art enthusiast. So, I was always interested in art. So, that was never anything alien to me. Although I pursued it. And now my nephew, my younger brother's son, Sanaj, I cast him in my film when he was small. I made the film, Dhoop Chaar Aane Ki Baarish, for two paise ki. So now he's all ready and set to go. What Speaker 2 (5:14) did you study until you went to America? I Speaker 1 (5:19) studied at Sacred Heart Convent, Amritsar. There I did my schooling. And then Prep, which we call Plus Two, that government college, Amritsar. I think I did it for 1.5 years and then my father migrated. So when I went to America, I got a BA degree of 4 years from New Siris. I studied there. It wasn't like I did it for 2 years and then I would be saved. It was the whole. Speaker 2 (5:49) And while living Speaker 1 (5:50) in Speaker 2 (5:50) Amritsar, the city's atmosphere and your childhood, your childhood was... Speaker 2 (6:11) No, Speaker 1 (6:17) I don't think a film... Speaker 1 (6:34) I went to a convent school, Sacred Heart. So the nuns were very strict. So that was not allowed there. But as soon as we joined PrEP, we were mostly seen in the cinema hall. So in that, it was that no film should be missed. All the films, I mean, every film that is coming, we have to watch it. So this kind of youth was the main activity at that time. Because there was nothing else. There was TV too, maybe in the 70s, TV. In the 60s, maybe. TV aaya. Aur humare neighbours the unke hain TV aaya aur chitrahar dekhte the. Ek to chitrahar aur ek aur kuch, ek fauji bhaiyon ka kuch hota tha aur kisaan wagaara ke unko lekar ke bhi kuch program hota tha. Ke khad kaisi, is thara ka kuch. But it was very basic. Bohat basic. But we used to enjoy the movies. Sundays ko movie aati thi aur gaane to hum humisha dekhte the TV pe. Speaker 2 (7:36) Apart Speaker 1 (7:36) from Speaker 2 (7:36) TV, what was the first film you saw in the cinema hall? You will Speaker 1 (7:44) say, okay. I remember my first film very well. It was called Durgesh Nandini. And this was 1956, I was four years old. And I went to see the film and the whole family went. So there were maybe two or three scenes in which there was a sword fight. And I was very upset. So when I was coming back, I decided that I will never watch a film again in my life and I will never go to the cinema hall. So, I have written extensively about this. When two or three years passed, and then all our cousins went to watch a film, and I am making excuses that I don't want to go, because people there will try to kill each other. They will try to hurt each other, so I don't want to watch that. So, my mother-in-law excused me, that it's okay, my mother-in-law, my grandmother, you take them back, they won't go. She started crying, her stomach was hurting. Speaker 1 (9:14) I missed out on the whole fun. So, things like this are remembered. So, Speaker 2 (9:22) in this entire era, when you took the name of Durgesh Nandini and Shami Kapoor, you have remembered two very strange experiences of Speaker 3 (9:29) the film Speaker 2 (9:29) for us. Till then, in Speaker 3 (9:32) your Speaker 2 (9:32) films, will I ever see myself on this screen? Has any such dream started? Yes, Speaker 1 (9:39) not so soon. But I think in the 1960s, Speaker 1 (9:46) When I was 9 years old, Balraj Sani came to Amritsar. He had a play that he had come to perform. His name was Kanak Di Balli. It was a Punjabi play. And my father took me there. He was a bit interested in art. So he said, Deepi, there are two tickets. It's in Gandhi Ground, but it's not even half an hour left. We have to run. So I quickly ran away with my autographed book. And it was winter time. And I don't remember the visual of the play. I could hear Balraj Sahani's voice. But in the end, when the play was over, my father took me. He said, you want an autograph? So that autograph... When he took it, they wrote, they said, my dear, if I keep giving autographs like this, I'll miss my train. So I thought, my dear, he said to me, we are our own. So that autograph became a kind of dreams of mine, of acting and becoming an actress. That was the beginning of that autograph book, that autograph of Balraj Sani. That starts with that page. Because I kept that like a big treasure. That this is my treasure. And I was like that. Because when I met him, I was small like this. I was always a small child. So I am looking at him. So graceful. So good looking. So well. His carriage is so good. So I was looking at him like that. Speaker 1 (11:21) And later I decided that when I become an actress and earn my name in films, then I will be as graceful as a Balraj Sani, as intense, as sincere as a Balraj Sani. So this kind of image was formed in my mind that if I work, then I will have this kind of persona. Speaker 1 (11:57) So Speaker 2 (11:58) in those times, did you ever look Speaker 1 (12:01) at Speaker 2 (12:01) yourself in the mirror properly? Speaker 2 (12:20) I think it Speaker 1 (12:28) started with this. I used to have a hat stand in our house. So I used to try to see my face in the mirror. And I used to put my foot on it. A wooden rod. I used to put my foot on it and try for many years. When will I see my face and I will be able to observe myself. So gradually, an age came. I climbed on it and I could see my face. So I did a lot in front of it. I have spent a lot of time in front of that mirror. That mirror is my first learning in front of the camera. I didn't have formal training. So that mirror has taught me a lot. Because I have observed myself so keenly. When no one is watching me, I am always in front of