'I Adopted A Cat To Understand Motherhood'

'I am not a mother and never had an abortion either, so I had to understand motherhood and child loss from anecdotal experiences of others.'

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Mia Maelzer plays Jhumpa, the disempowered woman on the run in Karan Tejpal's well-reviewed film Stolen.

She plays a woman, who loses her five-month-old baby at a railway station.

“It wasn't as tough physically as it was emotionally for me to shoot Stolen,”

Your performance as a tribal woman on the run in Stolen is quite something. How did someone as urban play such a role?

I come from a unique family, which is from urban and rural spaces. My father comes from an erudite, reputed, Bengali family of people in sports, science, law, cinema and arts. My mother comes from a family in a tiny Himalayan village of Nepal. I was brought up in an English medium school in a town called Panihati until I reached the University of Calcutta, almost unaware of our family history.

When did you become aware of the fact that you were from such a distinguished family?

Everyone was casual about teaching me the importance of their contribution to society; they ensured that I was given the same education and responsibility. So I slowly learnt everything without any pride attached to my craft. I also ended up with a scholarship at the National School of Drama and once you become part of an institution like that, where most of your batchmates come from rural India, there is no way you stay super urban anymore.

When did you become interested in cinema?

I grew up watching great world cinema and took part in national sports camps as an athlete. My mother ensured that I learnt Indian classical dance along with basic ballet. Granny exposed me to folk theatre, music and dance.