EXCLUSIVE! Firstpost at IFFI 2025 | 'The Family Man 3' actress Seema Biswas: ‘Films don’t work with just stars, you need good content and craft…’

Seema Biswas shines in Khoya Paya which was shone at IFFI 2025, Goa. The film is about an elderly mother being abandoned by her son at Kumbh Mela. Known for her performance in ‘Bandit Queen’, Seema Biswas truly understands that audiences have developed a refined taste for cinema, they will not accept whatever that is given to them.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

As we can understand, movies are not really doing well in theatres. What do you have to say about Bollywood’s obsession with stars?

Stars alone cannot make a film successful. Audiences today are very intelligent. What works for them is good content and how the craftsman treats the character. It is very important for actors to concentrate of their craft.

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Do you think it is a great time for actors now?

Now is the right time for our kind of actors because there is a variety of content. After the pandemic there is more content. People got a lot of time to watch global content. Budget and stars don’t make a film work. It’s always the content.

Your preparation for _The Family Man 3_…

I was telling my directors Raj and DK for The Family Man 3 that the toughest acting is that of lawyers and politicians because you cannot show emotions. Raj once called me and said that he generally didn’t talk to actors after finishing the shoot because he didn’t have the habit of complementing them on the phone. Initially when I read the script, I tried to connect with my character and then I performed it with all my heart.

I still remember during the shoot of _Bandit Queen_ with Shekhar Kapur, once I felt very disturbed because I was not happy with the way I performed one scene. And the one thing he told me was- ‘Thappad khaane se pehle thappad ka dard mehsoos mat karna.’ We perform instinctively when we are on the sets.