The magic lies in your mind

 Divya Dutta

How many of you agree that the most brilliant ideas come early morning? Or, when you are just waking up?

At least for me it does! The power of subconscious mind works like magic. Sometimes when I am working on a role I don’t really know what’s bothering me about it and how I can make it better, the best I do is sleep over it. Literally! The moment I wake up, the subconscious mind has kept the brilliant idea ready in my head. The first thought. The mind is fresh to give it to me undiluted.

At my recent shoot I had to memorise 30 pages of dialogues out of which 10 were a monologue. I was nervous as the director wasn’t using the regular format of shot breakdown. It was in one go. And unlike theatre, I didn’t have time to rehearse.

So, I learnt the lines and went on the sets thinking we will rehearse a few times. But I was taken aback when the director said we would directly take. That’s where I discovered the power of the subconscious mind and a bit of nervous energy put together. I thought I had forgotten my lines. But as the director said action, I remembered each line as I had mugged it, coming one at a time. Mixed with that little unsure feeling that I may forget. But it flowed and yes they all got up to give a standing ovation.

Another interesting anecdote is from Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, which was a revelation for me as an actor.

We were shooting for the very famous blazer scene where Farhan akhtar gives me my earrings. Now, we had the scene written already but the director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra wanted us to think of a beginning and an end for the scene. He wanted us to improvise. I and Farhan cooked up the beginning together. He said, “What if I come wearing dark glasses, and I quickly added ‘then I won’t recognise you’. Rakeysh ji loved it. Then we tried racking our brains to end the scene but couldn’t think of anything. Rakeysh ji very confidently said, “May be you will find something while doing it Divya. Let’s not discuss, let’s shoot.”

Again that magic combo of the subconscious and the nervous energy!

Rakeysh ji said ‘Action’, and everyone on the sets stood still, waiting to see what the actors would come up with. The scene was flowing beautifully until I hugged Farhan. As I did, my mind was rushing ‘this is not how I’ll end the scene. Fast. Come on, think Divya’, my heart said. My mind took me back to the emotional memory of the character of Isri Kaur. We had shot a sequence a month back of mine and Milkha Singh’s childhood where our father salutes Milkha ji!

That memory came to me like a flash while hugging Farhan and I moved away in a daze, following the instructions of my subconscious mind. My hand went on my forehead and I saluted him, just like the father had done.

Everyone stood still around. They were all crying. Rakeysh ji was so moved that it took him a bit to say ‘cut’!

He said, a bit choked, “Where did you come up with that? Loved it.” Well, I didn’t know myself. But I know one thing for sure, when I am nervous and unsure and feel I don’t know, this lovely friend of mine comes to my rescue, and it’s great to have a friend you can always depend on. Especially, the one who springs pleasant surprises at you!

(Dutta is a Bollywood actress)