5 minutes with Ayesha Dharker: 'I've tried to avoid the whole Bollywood thing'

I was picked up out of school in Bombay to do a French independent film which did quite well. It went to Cannes and got a bit of attention. I thought it was a bit of a one-off, but it wasn’t. Every time someone came to film in India, I ended up doing more indie projects. I stayed away from the whole Bollywood thing because I really enjoyed working on political projects.

When I was 19 I did a film called The Terrorist, which tackles the same subject as The Island Nation. It went to a few festivals, but that was before the time that I realised this was my job. I was in uni and doing other things and didn’t realise that acting would last or be a big part of my life. Since then, I’ve done bits of everything. I started doing theatre around that age, I did a play called Ramayana with the Birmingham Rep which went to the National. That was the first time I’d really done theatre. I also did a musical in the West End called Bombay Dreams which went to Broadway. That was a once in a lifetime thing.

The Island Nation is based on one of the longest running civil wars in Asia. It’s about the civil war in Sri Lanka between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government. It was interesting to revisit the story because of the film I’d done years ago. It deals with the political mechanisms which enabled that disaster. It’s right up my street because I love stories that deal with real issues. There are many, many versions of what may have happened, and this is just another version of what could’ve happened.

Ice & Fire are a very interesting company who deal with human rights stories which are often lost. It’s a tricky thing trying to untangle all the different opinions; you’re on shifting ground if you’re trying to nail down a fact. I’m enjoying the change of pace as I've done a lot of Shakespeare over the last few years.

I would like to play any of the characters out of the Mahabharat. It’s an ancient Indian myth about war, but it spans a huge length of time. The characters are very interesting: there’s a woman who marries five men, two lots of warring tribes, an Indian god who tries to solve their problems. I wouldn’t necessarily play a woman. I think it’s amazing. Peter Brook did a version on stage in the '80s. I don’t know who would tackle it again or why, but if they were to, I would be very interested.

The Island Nation runs at the Arcola Theatre runs until 19 November.