It was a wet
summer evening. After completing the day’s desk work I was a little
bit tired. But I had an appointment with her, an actress on her own
dignity — Moloya Goswami. When I started stepping towards her
residence which was close by our office I had all kinds of thoughts
in my mind — like I have to face a servant at the door and then he
or she would take me in and then call her for the meeting etc. But
when I pressed the calling bell at the door I discovered an all
together different picture there, Moloya Goswami herself opening the
door to welcome me.
One would no doubt forget about one’s tiredness after
interacting with a lady, so hospitable and pleasant by nature.
Sitting in her drawing room one can easily feel the grace and
modesty of the family and the warmth of the familial bond among the
four members of the family. From the famous Rajkhowa family to a famous actress capturing
the national award crown for best actress in 1991 for her "subtle
and natural portrayal of a teacher who overcomes the trauma of her
personal life and dedicates herself to the pursuit of a noble
mission" in Firingoti Moloya has come a long way.
Firingoti is a story of a teacher who faces many odds to
spread the light of education in a village. The teacher was none but
Moloya herself — the real life teacher of Jagiroad College. This
film was directed by Jahnu Barua — whose film career is studded with
various Assamese films rooted in Assamese culture and for whom
cinema is a powerful medium through which he conveys his message to
a large audience. Moloya was fortunate that she got an opportunity
to work with such a great film maker and she invested her best and
captured the crown.
The shelves of her drawing room are
choc-a-block with framed photographs of her receiving the national
award from the President of India and people all over Assam
felicitating her for bringing glory to the State. The walls of her
drawing room also proudly displays her laurels and achievements. The
Axomiya
Xarudoiya Japis of all sizes hanging on the
walls give enormous pleasure to the eyes of any guest visiting her
house.
Wearing a simple salwar
kameez and without a single trace of make-up on her face, she
lost herself in the nostalgic days of her childhood describing them
in her own words. The days when they had to go to Sonari, in
Sivasagar district and stay at her maternal uncle’s place. She
alongwith her sister enjoyed swimming, running and savouring fruits
from their grandma’s garden — "I even today have those days fresh in
my mind. Given a chance even today I would like to go to those
places to relive those bygone days to their fullest."
She belongs to the famous Rajkhowa
family of Sivasagar. Her father was Kailash Rajkhowa, son of Haresh
Rajkhowa. He was an engineer of Assam State Electricity Board. He
died in December 2001. He was always by her side and guided her to
shape her career. But his contribution to Moloya’s acting career was
not much because he was not keen on his daughter entering the world
of cinema nor did he have enough time to take care of the extra
curricular aspirations of his daughters. Her mother Putali Sarma,
daughter of Haranath Sarma of Sonari, is still there at her house at
Six Mile to enjoy the glory of her daughter and now of her grand
daughters...
Moloya was born in Dibrugarh, brought
up in Nagaon and ultimately came to settle down in Guwahati. Her
father had to move from one place to another because of his
transferable job. But Moloya and her sister were kept in Nagaon so
that no disturbance could effect their studies. They were only two
sisters. Her sister Dipti Buzarbaruah, a teacher, has now started a
school of her own.
With a sweet smile she avoided to
mention her date of birth. May be to reiterate the adage that "never
ask a gentleman his salary and a woman her age!"
Her basic schooling was at Nagaon Basic
School, where she completed her primary classes. Then she was
admitted into Nagaon Girls’ High School. After matriculation, she
came to Guwahati and joined the TC School. She completed her
graduation from Handique Girls’ College and obtained a master’s
degree in Education from Gauhati University.
"Though I was a mediocre student, I was
loved by my teachers. Recently, I went to Nagaon to attend a meeting
there, when my teachers noticed me there, they hugged me with great
affection. Such incidents prove that the teachers are not partial to
brilliant students only, they also love those who are sincere and
toil to uphold their principles."
Today, Moloya is a college teacher, an
actress and a mother. She is allotting equal importance to all these
roles — not more to one, not less to another. After the completion
of her master’s degree she got an opportunity to render her service
even before the results were announced, in the Sonari College
against a leave vacancy. After working for two months there she
returned to Guwahati. In 1983 she was called to join the Jagiroad
College as a lecturer and she continues there till today.
Moloya started her conjugal life in
1981 with Pradip Goswami, an executive engineer of Assam State
Electricity Board and a source of great inspiration to her. It was
only her husband who let her hug the opportunity that was forwarded
by Dr Bhabendranath Saikia. This couple has two daughters — Nishita
and Nimisha. Elder Nishita has already become a familiar face in the
Axomiya filmdom and Nimisha the younger daughter is a cute Higher
Secondary first year student. Moloya’s husband Pradip is in fact a
very good friend of her and always helps her giving her company as
much as he can.
It is only because of Pradip’s
cooperation that she is able to shuttle between her various
activities. When most of the Bollywood actresses have had to cut off
their bond with celluloid after marriage, Moloya is undoubtedly
lucky as she started her film career only after her
marriage.
Interestingly, most people may not know
that Moloya was selected for the first women’s hockey team from
Assam. She participated in various games in her school and college
days. She reveals her attachment to games with a smile recollecting
how she was trained by Joginder Singh (Olympian) for playing for the
first women’s hockey team of the State. But her love for games was
not confined to any one game in particular. Her involvement shifted
from one game to another — "that may be the reason for which I could
not make myself a good player," she laments.
Her fondness for acting grew early from
her school days. "In school level I could show my performance in the
first play of my life. That was a play by Aarati Das Boiragi which
was performed for the silver jubilee celebration of the school. In
Handique College, during the college week, the girls from the
department of Philosophy decided to perform a play and I also
expressed my willingness to act in it but they were philosophy
students and I was from education stream and you know what kind of
sentiments play during college weeks. They asked me not to mind if I
was not taken in," remembers Moloya. But luck was on Moloya’s side
and the Philosophy students fell short of artistes to perform in the
play and they were forced to request Moloya to play the
role.
Budhin Sarma, a noted actor of his
times, then lived in Uzan Bazar. The students reached him to learn
the nitty-gritties of stage play. Budhin Sarma, at the very first
sight asked Moloya if she had done any performance before. She
answered in the negative, Sarma then asked the girls if they would
mind if he made any changes in the play. They said they
wouldn’t.
After making some changes he gave the main
role of the play to Moloya. Moloya bagged the best actress crown for
this play Ekei Uttar. The same team performed the same play
the next year also and Moloya once again won the best actress award.
After that she continued her journey and performed her full-fledged
drama Upekkhita Mallika by courtesy of New Arts’ Players. The
rendering was a translation of Mohan Rakesh’s Aachar Ka Ek Din.
She got various opportunities from
noted film-makers of Assam — Satyaprasad Baruah, Sambhu Gupta and
many others, but she could not accept those because her father could
not spend much of his time for this avocation of hers.
The real talent of this modest and determined actress, were ultimately invented by Dr Bhabendranath
Saikia. When Dr Saikia decided to make a film based on his novel
Antareep he released an advertisement. In the meantime,
Moloya had read the novel which was serialized in the Assamese
weekly Prantik and she was very much impressed by the
character of Menaka — determination that she nurtured after
so many odds she had to face in the long run of her strife torn
life.
Anyway, when she saw the advertisement
she said she would also send an application. But the thought
remained a thought only. She had done nothing in practice. She was
then at Nagaon. Bhabendranath Saikia approached her husband with the
proposal that Moloya should play the role of Menaka in his
film Agnisnan. Her husband immediately consented to the
proposal and Dr Saikia then met Moloya at Nagaon. After discussing
with her husband she also gave her consent to the proposal. Thus
Saikia’s journey to invent a new melange of talents began. It was
quite an interesting story how Dr Saikia trained her to act the
role. He first let her read the novel Antareep once again so
that she could be accustomed to the character and with its
manifestation. And then she was given the script.
Moloya was a bit distressed when she
learnt that she missed her first laurel by a hair’s breath.
Agnisnan slipped from winning a prize for one little flaw.
But her investment saw a large rip off when she won the national
award for best actress.
But Moloya would be happiest if she
could capture this crown before five years and she says, "If I could
win this laurel for my debut making film Agnisnan the impact
would have been really a different one."
After these two films she never had to look
back. Though her academic life is not allowing her to earmark much
time to films, her film career is studded with jewels like
Agnisnan, Firingoti, I killed him Sir, Sesh Upahar, Asene Kunuba
Hiyat, Priya o Priya, Konikar Ramdhenu, Tumiye Mor Kalpanar and
Ipar Hipar etc. Apart from films she has also acted in TV
serials, notable among them being Ritu Ahe Ritu Jay and
Jibanar Batat.
"I have also got an opportunity to play
a role in the famous TV serial Tejal Ghora but I could not
because of some unavoidable circumstances for which I feel sorry and
unlucky because after this I did not got any more chance to work
with Kulada Kumar Bhattacharjee."
Most of the times the reel life cuts
people from their real life friends and relatives. Moloya is no
exception. She is not in touch with her close friends except a very
few. One of her such friends is Minati Choudhury who is a lecturer
in Dudhnoi College with whom Moloya shares her feelings whenever she
gets the time to do so. Another friend is there whom Moloya met last
a few years back. "I used to call her ‘Juu’. Though her name is
Anjana Choudhury. She is a close friend of mine and I will be very
happy if this message goes to her through your mélange,
because I don’t know where exactly she lives now."
After such a busy schedule can she take
out time for her husband and daughters? "I try my best to spent as
much time as possible with my family but don’t know how far I am
successful in my venture."
Besides acting, teaching and cooking
for her family (in fact Moloya never liked cooking but compulsion
made her a good cook) she spends time for the betterment of the
common masses. Yes, Moloya Goswami is a social activist
too.
Her feelings for the people of Jagiroad
is deep and she feels that she has much obligations towards the
people there. She is engaged with a ladies organization which was
started by Raju Baruah. The organization, under the banner of
ARPITA, aims at taking the womenfolk out of bondage — specially
those women who are toiling with household works only. She is also
involved in the activities of the AIDS Control Society and with an
NGO — ESCAPE. I must also mention that she is a member of Censor
Board. In her academic pursuits she intends to complete her PhD in
the near future.
From famous Rajkhowa family to the
world of Axomiya filmdom, Moloya has come across a long way but her
down to earth approach, modesty and genuine nature are still there
in her way of life. She has a deep faith in the new generation and
she does not believe that Assamese film is losing its identity on
account of commercialization and says that it is necessary to give a
commercial tinge to Assamese films to make them popular.
Moloya also wants to produce films in
the coming days. She has already staged an experimental play
Iti Tumar at Rabindra Bhavan during the Phani Sarma
Memorial Drama Festival recently which was much applauded by the
audience and critics. It should be mentioned here that Moloya
Goswami is a good reciter too who likes to recite poems by Jyoti
Prasad Agarwalla and Navakanta Barua.
Sipping the cup of tea served by her
daughter Nimisha, I wanted to know from Moloya her likes and
dislikes. When I asked her abut her negative traits she let the
answer come from her family members. And the answer came in chorus —
"Whenever she gets angry she repeats her dialogues again and
again..." "Please don’t assume that I do all these outside also,"
Moloya explained with a smile to make the position clear. When I
asked her about her positive traits, she said, "I leave it to you to
decide." And I in turn, leave it to my readers, after having gone
through this tale, to decide what’s so positive about
Moloya.
