“I Would Like To Emulate The West And Concentrate On Quality Instead Of Quantity”- Esha Gupta

In this freewheeling interview at the Hotel Novotel, ESHA GUPTA tells JYOTHI VENKATESH that she is glad she got an opportunity to act in Ashok Nanda’s latest film One Day Justice Delivered with Anupam Kher who had actually taught her what acting is. The film is slatted for release on July 5 this month.

What is your role in Ashok Nanda’s crime thriller One Day: Justice Delivered?

I am playing the role of a Haryanvi tough police officer called Laxmi  Rathi in One Day Justice Delivered. It is a challenging role and I am glad that Ashok Nanda chose me for this role and gave me an opportunity to act with Anupam Kherji who had taught me acting at his Actor Prepares when I started my career in Bollywood.

Is it for the first time that you have played the role of a cop?

I played a cop in Prakash Jha’s Chakravyooh for the first time in my career but then it was a cop called Rhea who was a family oriented young girl too attached to her family and her focus was on her husband and her family whereas the serious cop Laxmi Rathi in One Day Justice Delivered who is all alone and has a tough demeanor and had nothing to lose. In the film, I lay a strong no nonsense cop, who is of the belief that each and every person on this earth has his or her own plus as well as minus points. I play a Special Crime Branch officer, who investigates the disappearance of several high-profile individuals.

How tough was it for you to shed your feminine grace and adopt masculine features for the role of the tough cop?

To be frank with you, my personality itself is very masculine because my dad belonged to the Air Force and I had also grown up as a tom boy when I was in school and sue to bully the boys without any fear. My father deliberately had groomed me more as a boy than a girl

What is the film One Day: Justice Delivered all about?

The film One Day Justice Delivered which also stars Anupam Kher, Esha Gupta, Kumud Mishra, Hema Sharma, Monika Ravan and Anusmriti Sarkar in lead roles, sets out to focus on the investigation and strategies followed by a crime branch special officer to solve the mystery of missing high profile persons.

Do you remember any incident when you had thrashed the boys while in the school?

Yes. I remember once we girls were playing a game of volleyball and the boys in a neighboring school were playing the game of basket ball. A fight ensued when they started misbehaving with the girls and it ended up with a free for all fight

Did you miss out on having a boy friend when you were in the college?

It was very late in life that I realized that the boys were interested in me and actually noticing me though I was never interested in boys but concentrated more on food, studies, sports, clothes and friends.

Did you always want to become an actor?

You would be surprised to know that I was keen not on taking up acting in childhood but wanted to be either a lawyer or a journalist but destiny willed that I become an actress. It is good that I did not at all become a cop, because I feel that if I had ended up as a cop, I would have only ended up beating thugs mercilessly

How active are you socially these days?

In have always been socially very active and have spearheaded the cause of mangroves because the cutting of the mangroves only leads to devastating climates. As an actor, I feel that I should sue my clout to drive home any subtle message that one should not destroy mangroves. I also strive hatred to see that animals are not ill treated badly by the human beings.

How did you prepare for your part in the film One Day: Justice Delivered ?

First of all, I had to understand the dialect of Haryanvi and talk with the right accent. I had to let go of my heavy Punjabi accent and develop an entirely different body language to suit my role.

Zarine Khan was supposed to play the role that you have played in One Day but you landed the role. Do you believe in destiny?

I do not know whether Zarine Khan was offered the role that I have done but I believe in destiny hell of a lot. I remember after learning acting from Anupam Sir’s school, I went to see Mukesh Bhatt Sir and also met Mahesh Bhatt sir who is a little bit eccentric. Though Mahesh Bhatt Sir did not tell me anything, in the evening, Kunal Deshmukh who had directed Jannat 2 rang me up and asked me if I was free and would like to be part of their film Jannat 2. I made my debut with Jannat 2 opposite Emraan Hashmi, the third day after I had met the Bhatts. I came to know that the role had been ear-marked for Prachi Desai but the role landed on my lap.

In how many films have you worked till date ever since you made your debut with Jannat 2 and which are your five best films as an actress?

Till dated ever since I made my debut with Kunal Deshmukh’s Jannat 2, I have acted in as many as 16 films including One Day. I’d say that among the films in which I have acted, I’d rate Jannat 2 as my best especially since it was my debut film. Besides Jannat 2, the other four films are Rustom, Badshaho, Chakravyooh and Raaz.

Do you think you have not yet got your due as an actress though you are very talented?

I think everyone has his or her own destiny. All you can do is to keep on doing hard work with perseverance and have dedication towards your work. Your life will be 100 per cent better if only you stop comparing yourself with the others. This No 1 tag is there only in Bollywood and nowhere else. Do you think in Hollywood, an actor is compared with another and given the tag of No 1 or for that matter No 2? Also abroad, actors work in one big film once in every two years and do not grab as many as films as possible and concentrate only on quality rather than quantity. I would like to emulate them and concentrate on quality instead of quantity

What next, after One Day: Justice Delivered?

Right now, I have not signed on for any other film. On the anvil is a film which I will be doing for Netflix, though I am not allowed to divulge any details about the project trill the producer himself is announcing the same.

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Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News, Esha Gupta, Interview, One Day: Justice Delivered