Sep 18, 2026 7:00pm IST
‘The Revolutionaries’ Actress Paoli Dam on Series’ Pan-India Casting: ‘It’s Not Mandatory For A Bengali To Play A Bengali Character’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Paoli Dam aka Pishima of “The Revolutionaries” is thrilled with the response to her performance in Nikkhil Advani’s web series. She shares that Advani had seen her Bengali film, “Maacher Jhol,” (2017) and her character of Sreela stayed in his memory. “In this space of freedom fighters, it is mostly male characters. The contribution of female freedom fighters is not celebrated as much, or maybe viewers do not get to see them on celluloid. Also, he was always on my wish-list as a filmmaker.”
In the series, she plays Nanibala Devi, who is an anchor for young freedom fighters of West Bengal’s Jugantar Group. “She was the first woman state prisoner of British Bengal and faced immense torture. She gave shelter to these young revolutionaries and lived the life of a daredevil. Nikkhil told me that I have to do this, and who would not take up this role. Playing a female freedom fighter is a rare outing on screen. I want to play the role of Matangini Hazra once. She was much older so I still have time for that,” she adds.
On Bengali Faces In ‘The Revolutionaries’
Dam was also a part of “Bulbbul,” (2020) that also starred Rahul Bose and Parambrata Chattopadhyay. Talking about the representation of Bengali actors in “The Revolutionaries,” Dam opines, “This series is like a saga. ‘Bulbbul’ was a movie with four to five characters. Even in that movie, Avinash Tiwary and Triptii Dimri were not Bengali-speaking actors but the rest of us were Bengalis. In ‘The Revolutionaries,’ we have Tota Roy Chowdhury and Prasenjit Bhattacharya, so three Bengali actors were there including me. When you’re looking at a pan-India casting, it is not mandatory that a Bengali has to play a Bengali character. In ‘Raat Baaki Hai’ and some other projects I played a non-Bengali woman.”
Career in Hindi Films
Paoli Dam started her Hindi film career with “Hate Story” (2012) playing Kavya Krishna. The actress believes she broke the language barrier a long time ago with her Central Kolkata upbringing and academics. The “Kaalbela” actress believes that destiny plays an important role in getting good roles. “I would not call myself a hustler nor am I lazy. I like to be a part of projects where I know the filmmakers are really keen to have me on board,” she states.
When asked on whether her bold move with “Hate Story” led to her being stereotyped, Dam admits that was the case. She says she veered towards Bengali films as she got stronger roles. Dam elaborates, “I was getting better films in Bengal. I cannot compromise on my artistry to enter a bigger space or market. My aim is to reinvent myself as ac actor, with every role. This is why I chose ‘The Ankur Arora Murder Case,’ where I played a lawyer. I was getting really good scripts in Bengali. Maybe I did not spend much time in Mumbai to build a career there.”
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Right Reward For Right Talent
The actress makes no bones about the fact that she does not believe in forcing herself into a show or film for visibility. She shares, “The film/show has to be worth the effort. There is a notion that if someone needs good actors at lower costs, look at Bengal talent. When they cast actors from the South, they already have a budget fixed in their mind. This kind of thinking does not apply to actors and technicians from Bengal. Yes, we are passionate but that does not mean that money is irrelevant. Nikkhil truly respects Bengali actors and technicians. I am talking about the general mindset, which has developed post-COVID. Also, many Hindi actors moved to streaming post pandemic, which increased the competition.”
The actress shares that it is rewarding to work with people who believe in art, saying, “There are directors like Advani who after watching a movie calls up an actor and remembers his/her work and casts that actor. Cinema is a medium but it can make immortals out of mortals. Uttam Kumar left us decades ago but still we are celebrating him. Also, I am not a believer in paid PR. I like to approach my work organically.”
Dam reiterates that she has to be really keen to work with the filmmaker. “In the current scenario, actors are cast based on Instagram following. I know directors who are absolutely disgusted with this trend. I feel the current market is choking independent voices, which drive innovative filmmaking. There is censorship, social media popularity and market metrics to contend with. I have a Master’s degree in Chemistry and could have chosen any other career path. Cinema gave me a lease of life in terms of expressing myself, and I took a leap of faith. Young people starting off now have to contend with many issues. I love experimental cinema that tells new stories, presents unusual characters and adopts fresh storytelling styles. Such projects do not come every day. I crave for rarity and I am happy to wait for such movies.”
Talking about why Bengali actors do not get as much work as compared to South stars in Hindi, she opines, “Some of the casting of South Indian actors happen because of popularity and not because of sheer merit. Some of them are absolutely brilliant though like Vijay Sethupathi and Fahadh Faasil. I truly believe that Bengali actors and technicians need to be celebrated more. Thankfully, all the directors and producers I have worked with have been very respectful and personally asked me to be a part of their projects.”
Roles For Women In Cinema
Dam disagrees with the notion that Hindi film industry does not create work with strong female characters. “Over the years, we have seen actresses like Rekha, Tabu, Kajol and Vidya Balan be a part of some great female-oriented scripts. However, regional language cinema like Bengali or Assamese experiment a lot. Bengali cinema did struggle to tell its stories in the past few years due to political reasons and multiple factors. But I feel we are reviving and will come out with some great movies soon.”
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Staying away from reality shows
Dam shares that she has innumerable offers from reality shows both Hindi and Bengali. She was also offered “Bigg Boss,” but she refused. “I am a tiny boss (laughs). Such shows are not my cup of tea. I did rather act,” she says.
Dream Role
Dam says she is a huge fan of Kate Winslet’s work in “Mayor Of East Town” and lists Tom Hooper’s “The Danish Girl,” as one of her faves. She says, “I have worked in almost every genre but horror is pending. I want to do something on the lines of ‘The Exorcist’ or ‘Omen.’ Also, I love sci-fi and action movies. The sight of a woman in a saree holding a gun looks so larger than life in the cinema.”
Cyber bullying a curse for actors
Reminiscing about her bold on screen outing in “Hate Story,” Dam feels it is sad to see the kind of backlash actresses like Kiara Advani faced for “Toxic.” She laments, “I feel it needs to be hammered into audiences’ heads that actors are just playing a part. We should be more experimental, explore fresh ideas and thoughts. Such online bullying is done to scare people. It pushes away actors from their inner goals and what their heart wants to do at a certain time. Every actor is not the same in every phase of his career and it is very easy to attack people in a social space. Trolls and people do not spare ordinary normal people. I feel there is a trend to gain sadistic pleasure out of badmouthing people on social media. You see a show like ‘The Revolutionaries’ you will see how much people respected each other and their opinions. We need to bring back that sense of respect in public life.”
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