Acting pays bills, helps nurture other parts of artiste in me: Anjali Patil

Anjali Patil is a multilingual artiste - she understands Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam pretty well.

She has dubbed in Sinhalese, voiced for her own role in Rajnikanth's "Kaala" in Tamil and is currently learning the "sensuous" Spanish.

"By the end of two months, I hope I'll be fluent in it. I started with French but somehow I could not get on with it. Then I thought I'll try something else and if I feel I'll come back to it. Spanish is sensuous. I still love French more but think now Spanish it is," the actor says.

Patil, a National School of Drama graduate who made her debut with "Delhi in a Day" 2011, says acting is barely a means to an end - it keeps her afloat financially and allows her to concentrate on her other projects.

"Acting pays my bills, gets me money so I can nurture the other parts of artiste in me - reading, music or writing poems. I never really had tremendous ambition to go or reach somewhere," she told PTI in an interview.

The actor, who played Malko in the National Award-winning "Newton", says she is not interested in the quintessential rat race in the film industry.

"I am still happy because I have different ambitions and plans about my life. I have a different idea of leading my life, which thankfully doesn't involve being No 1," she says.

Patil agrees more parts are being written for women today but it is still tough for her as she is "really choosy".

She says she tries to stay out of the debate about the representation of women on screen as for her, being associated with the process of filmmaking is more important.

"I kind of stay out of this as I have a lot of things to focus on. I came in films as an actor was a mere coincidence. I love the medium and I love the process of filmmaking in its entirety so I kept going on with it."
"I was not sure about coming on board for 'Newton'. I have worked in films with me as the protagonist but they were all female oriented films. Even though people see her as an important part of the script of Newton, I wanted more for Malko."
"Not just the screen space. That there's more for the woman in the story."
"No matter how philosophical I may sound it is true. As a public personality, I come with a lot of responsibility. A lot of people follow what I say. So I can be truthful and do my job honestly... Guide people in right direction and not use it for my economic benefit."
"It's a really special film. Very heartfelt and it explores what goes through the child's mind when he sees her getting engaged. How he handles himself when he realises what they have is more than love."