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She's had a couple of misses (the blink-and-you'll-miss-me
role in Kamasutra and, more recently, the dismal Mother), but
Madame Re's raring to go. She's looking forward to her upcoming release Zubeidaa,
directed by Shyam Benegal, who's experimenting with this commercially viable
venture. She laughs off the thought that another miniscule role might not be the
best career move for her at this point in time. (The film is devoted to Karisma
Kapoor's character.)
"Never expect anything," she says, sharing her philosophy of life.
"I believe in doing my bit, and waiting for the results. When I was
younger, I had a million questions but I never asked them. Today, I take things
as they come."
But in the meanwhile, she's willing to take on a few of our questions. Excerpts
from an interview:
We've been watching the promos of Zubeidaa
on air, and it's wonderful to see you all dressed up for a period film
again. We're sure your fans are looking forward to seeing you on the big screen
again, after quite a break.
You mean you actually caught me in that one shot!
Yes, I suppose my fans are anticipating a lot from this film, so I hope they
will not be disappointed at the fact that I have very little screen time. That's
what happened with Kamasutra. People felt my screen time was too short
and that I shouldn't have done the role at all. But I really enjoyed doing the
role, and working with Mira Nair.
So you expect them to be
disappointed by the length of your role?
Well, I'm quite sure they will be. But for me, it's not the length but
the content of the role that really matters. The character and the subject
matter are of relevance, not the time spent on screen.
The film Zubeidaa revolves around the character named Zubeidaa, played by
Karisma Kapoor. She's an ordinary girl whose life takes a turn when she has a
chance encounter with the Maharaja of... I forget which place (Fatehpur!) who
she falls in love with. I play Mandira Devi, the Maharaja's (Manoj Bajpai) first
wife, who happens to be a couple of years older than him. Of course, they used
special makeup to get that look.
So what
was it about your role in Zubeidaa
that intrigued you?
I think for me, something about the part just touched my heart. It felt
right, it clicked somewhere inside my mind. But there were a lot of other reasons why I agreed to do the film. Like I
absolutely love working with Shyam Benegal. He's a wonderful person, a very
focussed director who's very clear about what he wants from his actors. My
association with him goes way back. In fact, the very first year that I came to
Mumbai, around 1969-70, he directed the first and only ad I've done. It was so
long ago that I didn't even remember it till we got together to film Kalyug
and he reminded me about it. I was so young, just over 13.
Secondly, the script, written by Khalid Mohamed, was also very appealing.
Khalid's become a friend over the years, and had approached me when he was
directing Fiza but somehow, at the time, things didn't materialise. But I
was definitely keen on working with him too.
Lastly, the film stars Lolo, who is my baby. Can you imagine, she was born in
front of my eyes and today, she plays my souten in the film. I consider
myself really blessed to be working with her!
How was it working with a different
generation of stars, like Manoj and Karisma?
Manoj is younger than me and relatively new, if you take into account how
long I've been around. He's a very down-to-earth boy who retains his small-town
upbringing. He was so well behaved!
And Karisma, as I said, is like a daughter to me. Neetu Singh and me were best
of friends, and she married into the Kapoor household, which was like a second
family to me. When Lolo was born, we went to see her, with small gold bangles as
shagun for her. She was such a bonny baby! Everything about her was
round. Round eyes, round cheeks, round face…even her thighs were round! So mottu,
like a doll. Today she's turned out to be such a respectful girl. Very discreet
and mature, with her father's sense of humour.
I've never really had a problem fitting in with today's stars. People think I'm
very hoity-toity, with a 'touch-me-not' attitude, but that's not me. I may not
go out of my way to put others at ease, but they end up being quite comfortable
with me - you can ask Manoj!
From Mother to Kamasutra,
and now Zubeidaa. You seem quite comfortable doing both offbeat films and
commercial ones.
I've never seen the difference between an art film or a commercial one.
For me, my baby is my baby. It doesn't matter if he's handicapped - he's still a
gift from God.
After Zubeidaa, what do you
have lined up for the future?
Que Sera Sera. The future is there to see, but what's the hurry? I
like living each day to its fullest. Life is beautiful and I treat each day like
a gift from the Almighty. I never plan, I've learnt never to expect and I'm
never surprised at anything. That makes it easier for me to deal with life. This
is my best time of the year. Work wise, I'm open to anything - be it the small
screen, music, ads, the theatre. The only criterion is that it should appeal to
me.
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