Tillotama Shome – Acting is still an act of defiance for me, to be able to do something that I feel I can’t do.Acting is still an act of defiance for me, to be able to do something that I feel I can’t do.

‘Growing up with a stammer, for long I felt like a bit of an anathema. In my first year at Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi, I watched a play. That’s when I realised how that this world of acting represents all that was totally inaccessible for a girl who lived most of her school-life through monosyllables. I never felt sad or sorry for myself due to my speech impediment, I just thought that was normal. But when I saw that first play, it was when I genuinely wished to not have the same. Around the same time, I was introduced to a Buddhist philosophy which talks about the limitless potential of the human mind. It really gave me the hope to at least try. I picked out an audition call, and decided to try out for a silent character. I was so nervous while auditioning that my knees were shaking. I got the part. My body was experiencing such freedom on stage. Acting is still an act of defiance for me, to be able to do something that I feel I can’t do. The world of acting to me was fascinating; to be able to become someone else, and develop a kind of empathy was wondrous to me. As I started being on stage, even though it was a silent part, my body just bypassed the cops in my head that were telling me for so long that I can’t speak without stammering. That’s how it all began.’ said Tillotama Shome

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