Maitri expressed that portraying 'Shreya' in Kolongpar was a challenge for her. The reason behind this is that Shreya was considerably younger than Maitri's original age of 26 at the time of the shoot. Kolongpar's creators gave the audience a rebellious, yet innocent teenager, Shreya, who also does drugs. Portraying the nuances of a 19-year-old teenager demanded a lot of bodily changes in Das. Moreover, Shreya was a character who would not be accepted by society very easily and would be subject to judgement, says Das. "In Assam, such characters are still not seen very often on the screen, let alone being accepted." Emphasizing the factor attracting her to Shreya the most, Das said, "When Shreya was narrated to me, she wasn't explained to me through any lenses of judgement."
Maitri says that she is extremely happy with how the audience embraced Kolongpar after Kritikal Kouple. She said that she has received positive reviews on the two completely opposite characters of 'Sukriti' and 'Shreya' in the two series. "People are also downloading our app which surely makes me and the entire team happy. We get encouragement to experiment more only when the audience accepts what we present. This is a good sign and I am glad about it."
About Maitri's character in Kritikal Kouple, 'Sukriti', she expressed appreciation on the strong script of the series. "When I take projects, I make it a point to ask for the script.'' says Das. She says that she got hooked on the script when Rupak Da, a character in the story, says on the very first page of the script, "Ei dekhun feminist, bey" (Whoaa, she is a feminist). Maitri further said that "I consider myself a feminist, but to have someone else comment on it, with phrases like, 'eibilak sexist comment or karonei toi ketiyaba maar khabi'- the humour of it, the humour of everyday life, again without any judgement, really attracted me." The actor, however, mentioned that she did not anticipate the series to turn out to be such a hit.
Maitri's first film was, ''Boroxun-Songs for Rain", an Assamese feature film which was released on March 11, 2022. She was the lead actor and won the "Best Actor Award" at the Prag Cine Awards 2021 for the same. Maitri said that the present year has been very fruitful for her. March saw the release of Boroxun, followed by Kritikal Kouple in April and Kolongpar in August.
Maitri has been associated with the field of acting and theatre, ever since she was 12 years old. She is also a trained classical dancer. She started acquiring training for Sattriya Dance when she was 4 years old.
At the age of 12, Das acted for the first time in a play directed by Chetana Das, a renowned actress from Assam. The name of this play was, "Hanto Hristo, Hristo Pushto Moha Dusto". Recalling back her training days with the renowned actress, Das said, "That is when I fell in love with acting. Chetana Das is such a renowned and experienced actor. At that age, I was 12 years old and she trained us in such a disciplined manner and so vigorously, that it formed a very good base in terms of theatre arts and performance. I still carry that discipline along with me. I knew at that moment that this is what I was going to do for the rest of my life."
Das has acted in many plays in Assam, and in Hyderabad during her graduation and post-graduation. She was associated with theatre groups in Assam and Hyderabad. However, presently Das performs solo and writes-directs her own plays.
Speaking on the challenges and the present status of the independent filmmaking scene in Assam, Das expressed that finance is one of the major challenges. Das asserted that actors in the state act in multiple forms of theatre and media to make up for the low finance. She also states that Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) and Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) graduates from Assam are coming back to the state and there are a lot of Dr Bhupen Hazarika Regional Government Film and Television Institute (DBHRGFTI) pass outs, who are collectively experimenting and producing influencing films, which are receiving international attention. But still, there is not enough money to do this comfortably and thus people associated with this field look up other avenues to support themselves.
"It is an exciting point. Things are changing. Things are looking up. People are coming in as well and exciting roles are set to come in.'' commented.
She further commented that the industry is very small in the state. This results in the same people being noticed on the screens repeatedly. Das says, "Then again, things are looking up. It is a hopeful time. It is a very important time in the sense that things are set to change. Opportunities are coming up."
"Daakor Bason'' a passion project of the actor along with animator Amalendu Kashyap is another venture of Das, which has been contributing to reviving ancient Assamese folk and cultural entities. The journey started with posting commentaries and satires through illustrations and comics, and received mass acceptance and appreciation by the audience, which they were not anticipating. The project later took an entrepreneurial turn when they started selling merchandise and calendars. The project is now looking forward to walking its way into the animation-filmmaking industry as well.
Das stated that ''Bengi'' the lead character in Boroxun was a character into which she put the most effort and loved playing the most. The actor expresses that the process of building the character, Bengi was immensely satisfying for her and she loved playing that character. Das cherishes the overall experience of "Bengi".
Some of Das's inspirations in the film, theatre and literature world are Frances McDormand, Jyoti Dogra, Ima Sabitri, Samuel Beckett, Antonin Artaud, Mary Oliver etc. She further said, "For me, my inspirations are mostly women. I draw my strength from them and how they carry themselves and navigate through life."
Maitri as an artist says that she would like to tell stories to the world. She says, "I want to create things, whether it is writing for my play or performing a play on the stage, creating a character for a play, writing for Daakor Bason etc. I have these things inside me and I want to tell them to the world and show how I view the world." She expresses that it is immensely gratifying for an artist when people can relate to the stories. "And I don't know what else to do,'' says Das.
Maitri is currently working on developing her solo play, "The Baak of Maguri" which received a grant in Kolkata in 2021. Additionally, she is also prioritising creating an animated series as part of Daakor Bason, which is in the writing phase." Her goal is to take Daakor Boson forward, create more plays and tell more stories.
Maitri says to her fellow aspirants in this field of art "It is a long journey. The idea is to be persistent about it. Keep your options open at all times and have fun on your way there, have fun in the process."
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