“A Producer Called Me Raunchy”





She was and has been the quintessential young woman-next-door whom an intelligent man would love to take to his mother. Playing a quintessential ‘bhartiya naari’, whether belonging to the classical mould or the modern times, Vidya Balan boasts of consistency as her hallmark. In fact, after Katrina Kaif, she easily has the best success rate amongst leading ladies today with at least one hit a year ever since her debut effort ‘Parineeta’. No wonder, when Vidya moves from her ‘maa’ performance in ‘Paa’ to a ‘woman with desires of her own’ (in her own words) in ‘Ishqiya’, she makes viewers look forward to what’s new that she has to offer in the New Year.

Moreover, with the film’s synopsis pretty much describing her character of Krishna as a widow who is a small-town girl with an air of mystery around her and is also a bundle of contradictions, one is bound to be more curious. More so because in the film she makes men as diverse as Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi dance to her tunes.

“This is the best time to be working in movies”, declares Vidya who post the success of ‘Paa’ was stationed in Kerala for a holiday with friends and family before getting back to the grind of lights, camera, action, “Earlier, when any filmmaker even thought of making a non-formulaic film, it used to be slotted as an art film there and then.

Soon after it would be considered as economical unviable and unfortunately there wasn’t much progress that any of such brilliant ideas made. I guess there was an attempt in the late 70s and the early 80s but then ever since NFDC has stopped making films, all doors seemed to be shut. However, in the current decade we are back to making different kind of films. Yes, it’s a slow but a steady journey for sure. At least now with movies like ‘Ishqiya’, we have started pushing the envelope a little more.”

At the beginning of 2009, it was Anurag Kashyap directed ‘Dev D’ that followed a non-conformist approach towards cinema. Circa 2010 and the year is beginning with ‘Ishqiya’. It appears like finally there is some trend in the making here with mainstream actors not feeling shy about lending their support to films that break commercial mould. After Abhay Deol, it is nice to see Vidya Balan too joining the fray.

“I think what is actually happening is that even audiences want to see different things today. This is why when a few experiments worked earlier, people just lapped it up. Movies like ‘Bheja Fry’ and ‘Mixed Doubles’ pretty much paved the way for quality films in controlled budgets to start making an appearance because once these films worked, more and more people from the industry were further encouraged to present different ideas. It was obvious that even unconventional and non-formulaic films can work if packed, marketed, promoted and presented well. Slowly there are steps being taken due to which audiences too are accepting varied subjects with open arms. Thankfully, there are better budgets being offered as well in spite of increase in experimental cinema”, Vidya goes on to share her ‘gyaan’ on the advent of new age cinema.

She can’t be blamed though if she is sounding all excited about the advent of a different kind of cinema. After all she is one of the rare female actors who has agreed to play the role of a mother in two films (‘Paa’, ‘Heyy Babyy’), someone who has psychological disorder (‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’), a woman suffering from an ailment (‘Guru’, ‘Salaam E Ishq’) and now a widow who doesn’t mind getting into an intense romance with love (Naseeruddin Shah) and lust (Arshad Warsi) as the driving force.

“But then who is really looking at formula films today”, questions Vidya. “Even younger actors who are just starting off are not shying away from doing something zara hatke. Ranbir Kapoor did ‘Wake Up Sid’ which was a clear example of a really different film. By no means was it a formula film because the boy and the girl (Konkona Sen) were not lovers in the conventional terms. The situation out there was something that people could identify and this is what helped in moving them. Mission accomplished because as long as you tell an engaging story, you can lay your bet on the film doing well.”

However, can she deny the fact that when a film like ‘Wake Up Sid’ works, it was also because of a huge banner backing it (Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions) and a star actor (Ranbir Kapoor) at the helm of affairs. “Today, just star power doesn’t work. Your film can get a good opening but after that, it’s the story that counts. That’s the only factor which would help you sustain at the box-office. At the end of the day, only good films work because once word of mouth is bad, people will stop coming regardless of who stars in the film.”

Well, Vidya would certainly know. It is this word of mouth factor that helped her last release ‘Paa’ to stay at theaters and continue to rake in moolah for weeks in succession despite an average opening weekend.

“Exactly”, she lights up. “A film like ‘Paa’ took a slightly slow start at some places but then went on to grow so strongly with every passing day. See, people want to lay their bet only on good films and this is why I say that today is a fantastic time to be in cinema. There is space for everyone and there are writers and directors who want to tell different stories. There are actors who are willing to push the envelope and then there are composers and lyricists who make a song like ‘Emosanal Atyachaar’ and have an entire nation dancing to its tune. Now would you have imagined something like this till a few years back?”

However, one wonders what exactly was her imagination that prompted her to sign a film like ‘Ishqiya’? After all the film has an unconventional title, a debutant director (Abhishek Chaubey) at the helm of affairs, a rustic setting and a pair of leading
men which couldn’t have been more unconventional. “Mark my words, Vishal Bharadwaj (the co-producer of the film) and Abhishek have coined an idiom for Indian cinema with ‘Ishqiya’”, she begins to sing praises about the film. “It is very identifiable and Indian cinema at its best. Also, its interpretation is quite rooted and I think, or I would rather say truly believe, that this is the real USP of ‘Ishqiya’.

 Since the film is based in a place like Gorakhpur, there is a certain language about it which has a charm of its own. However, let me caution that by language I am not just highlighting about the abusive part but even the general vocabulary, mannerisms and body language that comes into picture. Because people have certain specific social background, they speak in a way which turns out to be aggressive. Yes, we all have tried to do something different in our respective careers but ‘Ishqiya’ is something which is diametrically different.”

Well, it wasn’t too long ago when she was in two minds about signing the film. Buzz is that she actually made people wait before giving her nod of consent. “Yes, I am guilty of that in fact”, confesses Vidya. “I remember that after Abhishek narrated the script to me, I asked for its copy to read it myself and then revert. However, it did take me slightly longer than expected to do so because I was shooting. In the meanwhile Vishal started wondering if I wasn’t really interested, asked me point blank about it and insisted that I be honest. On the other hand, at the bottom of my heart, I already knew that I wanted to do the film but just wanted to be absolutely sure. I immediately said yes and today when I look back, I am glad that it turned out to be such a wonderful experience.”

However, the fact remains that in the process of doing ‘Ishqiya’ and ‘Paa’, she lost out on a far more commercial film in the form of the Rohit Shetty-directed ‘All The Best’. “The loss is all mine because I was really thrilled when Rohit offered me ‘All The Best’. It was a fun script but the dates for the film were clashing with ‘Paa’”, she says.

The buzz though is that she wasn’t too keen about being seen in a multi-starrer setup with little work for heroines, especially at the time when she was enjoying author backed roles. “See, in my head there are absolutely no restrictions about the kind of projects I want to be a part of. I know ‘All The Best’ would have been wonderful for me in just the same way as ‘Paa’ or ‘Ishqiya’. I am blessed to be approached for films across genres. I don’t fear if the character I play is truly unconventional. In fact it instead becomes dicey when filmmakers want you to do conventional roles. I am so wary when people come to me with the role of a happy and chirpy RJ time and again just because I did play a role like that a few years back in ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’. I only end up thinking whether I would enjoy my stint on the sets because I get a sense beforehand that there won’t be much to do.”

One wonders though what’s her sense around the marketing and promotional plan of ‘Ishqiya’? After all what is being brought in front of audiences is a strong undercurrent of sex coupled with colourful language. “At least today people are prepared to watch the film on it’s merits”, she reasons, “Otherwise kitni baar aisa hota hai ki aap film ko kuch project karte ho aur woh nikalti kuch aur hai. Because of that people end up feeling cheated. For example when my own ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ released, people thought that it was a comedy when there was this strong thriller and drama element to it as well. We were lucky that we ended up with a hit in our hands because eventually it did have a lot of comedy. But then one can never be sure.”

Now that’s quite a candid confession coming from an actress who had a pivotal role to play in the Priyadarshan-directed film. One wonders though how sure she was on realising that her co-stars in ‘Ishqiya’ would be none other than Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi? “I was a little concerned about working with Naseeruddin Shah because initially it can become a bit intimidating with him.

After all he seems like a no-nonsense person. My fears were all off the camera though because in front of the camera I was more concerned about my own work than standing up in front of my co-star. So thankfully I could condition myself to forget that it was Naseeruddin Shah in front of me. Touch wood. However, between the takes I was careful and tried to be aloof. After a few days though I was pleasantly surprised on discovering that he was instead a very chilled out person”, describes Vidya who was far more comfortable from day one when it came to Arshad Warsi.

“Oh, he is so effortless”, she smiles. “Moreover, since I have done ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ with him earlier, the great times that we shared were still fresh in my mind. And you know what? He still has that knack of improvising once the camera starts rolling. They are like wow. In ‘Ishqiya’, there is this particular scene where I am required to just walk away from the screen after delivering my lines. However, to everyone’s surprise, he just added his own bit to the scene which made it all so funny. Believe me; working with these two different kind of guys was such an exciting experience. Moreover the character of Krishna herself is a first for me because she is woman who is defined by her own needs, desires and love.”

From a single mom in Paa to a widow who has two men dancing to her tune - it seems like a good transformation as well. “Krishna is someone whom you can’t deceive and in case you catch her on the wrong foot, you are doomed”, laughs Vidya. “If she loves someone, she does so with an open heart and is all passionate. On the other hand you make yourself her enemy and she won’t think twice about showing the violent and aggressive side of hers. She will do what she wants and in fact the most thrilling part for me was that I was playing a bad woman for the first time. You know, I have got some really strange messages around ‘Ishqiya’. While it is understandable when someone comments that there is this light aggressive sexuality that I bring on screen in the film, one producer actually came to me and said that he never believed I could be so – hold your breath – raunchy! Can you beat that?”

*Courtesy: Stardust