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After that there was no looking back for Bahuguna, who came to Delhi as a girl from Lansdowne in the hills.
“After that show, I joined The High Hillers Group of Garhwali theatre artistes,” she remembers. “And soon movie offers start to trickle in.”
In The High Hillers Group, Bahuguna would rehearse leaving her children home.
“Those were difficult times. “I had to spend long hours outside, not just for theatre, but also for shootings in Garhwal,” says the mother of three.
However, once the The High Hillers Group broke up a few years later, Bahuguna concentrated solely on films. Doing movies wasn’t easy either since there was no recognition, and sometimes no pay. However, things changed and now Bahuguna says she is “the highest paid actress in the Garhwali film industry”.
But more than films, it is the mention of Garhwali culture that gets her going. “Doing films is my profession now,” says Bahuguna, an established actress in Garhwali film industry. “I like to see some recognition for Garhwali culture and tradition.”
And for that Bahuguna has been doing her bit by giving talented individuals a platform in her projects. “So many people whom I helped with nuances of acting, have now reached even Bollywood,” she says.
It doesn’t stop here. Bahuguna was the first woman to get girls to do female roles in the centenary Ramlila celebrations in Lansdowne, where, till 2004, men did those roles. “A man would smoke a beedi behind the curtain and next moment come forward to play Kaykai,” she recalls. “Till I chose a few girls, convinced their parents and got them to act,” she says. “I just want talented Garhwali actors to get the recognition they deserve,” she adds. With around Rs 2 lakh as the budget for a film, Garhwali film industry is not big by any standards but Bahuguna is determined to make a change.
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