I’D SAY THAT MY MANTRA IN LIFE IS TO TAKE UP BABY STEPS ONE AT A TIME

Says MAHIMA CHOWDHRY to JYOTHI VENKATESH in this exclusive and intimate interview to MAYAPURI and bollyy.com

It was a pleasure meeting and chatting with Mahima Chaudhary after what feel is aeons at the announcement of the launch of the film on the great freedom fighter at the Hotel Hyatt at Juhu, in which Pooja Iyer is playing the role of freedom fighter Neera Arya who was an unsung Warrior of INA, who let her breast be brutally cut off in order to protect Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose!

Mahima, who had come to the event as the chief guest, agreed to speak to me for a few minutes. Mahima is now busy working in two different films in Hindi. One of them is Emergency which is being directed by none other than Kangana Ranaut while the other is with the renowned Gajendra Ahire as the director, in which her co-stars are Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor and Ranveer Shourie.

What keeps you busy of late? It has been almost eight years since I last saw you!

Frankly I have a lot of things lined up as of now including managing live events almost each and every day. Right now, I’d say that my mantra in life is to take up baby steps one at a time.

Tell me something about your film with Gajendra Ahire!

All that I can divulge right now about Gajendraji’s film is that it is a beautiful story of a common man. The title announcement comes days after Kher asked fans on social media to select one of the following titles – “The Last Signature”, “Sarthak”, “Nirnay”, and “Dastakhat” – for his upcoming feature. In a Twitter post, the 67-year-old actor has thanked his fans for their interest and said the team had zeroed down on “The Signature '' for the title of the movie, which, by the way, is Anupam Kher’s 525th movie. Best known for Marathi films such as “Not Only Mrs Raut” and “The Silence”, the film The Last Signature is backed by the noted producer K.C. Bokadia and co-produced by Anupam Kher Studio.

Are you still working with Gajendra Ahire on his film?

Gajendra Ahire has already wrapped up the film which started shooting only in June this year with a record speed

Tell me something about your role in Kangana Ranaut’s film Emergency? The film has run into trouble even before its release, with the Congress expressing reservations about how it portrays Mrs Gandhi.

The film, Emergency, written and also directed by Kangana Ranaut and also starring her as former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi is about the 21-month period from 25 June 1975 to 21 March 1977 when Mrs Gandhi suspended fundamental rights, imprisoned political opponents, and ruled by decree, is a significant event in India’s post-Independence history, it is somewhat of a lost moment in mainstream Hindi cinema.

Very few filmmakers have tried making a film in this genre like Kangana Ranuat is doing. Isn’t it?

Yes. The Emergency was imposed by Gandhi for a 21-month period from 1975 to 1977, when the fundamental rights of the people were put under strict curbs. Not many filmmakers have earlier tried to make a film like this with the exception of a few like Sudhir Mishra who made Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi in 2003, Madhur Bhandarkar who made Indu Sarkar in 2017) who had attempted to depict or engage with it.

What is your role in the film in which Anupam Kher is essaying the role of Jayaprakash Narayan?

I am essaying the role of Pupul Jayakar who was not only an author but had also penned Indira’s biography and was extremely frank with her opinion to Indiraji while Milid Soman is playing the role of the Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. From what I have gathered, Pupil was Indira’s friend but not really in favor of imposing emergency. Yes. She was very active but at the same time not at all in favor of an emergency.

Tell me about some other actors who play your co-actors in the film?

A Manikarnika Films presentation, Emergency is being produced by Renu Pitti and Ranaut. The screenplay and dialogues are by Ritesh Shah. Malayalam actor Vishak Nair who has featured predominantly in films such as Aanandam, Puthan Panam and Chunkzz is playing the role of Sanjay Gandhi in the film, which has been billed as the story of a watershed moment in the political history of India. Kangana Ranaut has clarified that ‘Emergency’ is not a biopic on Indira Gandhi, but a political drama.

Hindi Cinema has changed over the years since the time you had made your debt in films with Pardes. How do you perceive this change?

Frankly, the kind of roles that I set out to play these days are absolutely challenging because during our earlier times, I was actually playing the typical role of the heroine, though right now, I am glad I am getting the opportunity to play different kind of dynamic roles, which offer e the scope to display my latent prowess as an actress.

Now that your daughter is 15, are you ready to act in more films?

Yes. You bet. I am now ready to do some great work on OTT platforms as an actress, though I am not ready to do sad roles and cry but strong as well as humorous roles which are really very funny.

Is it because of the fact that in real life you are really very strong?

Frankly, in real life I am not as strong as I am projected in real life but very phusko.

In what way do you think that Cinema has changed of late?

Frankly during the lockdown, we all were exposed to a lot to cinema both regional as well as International and all of us have realized that Cinema can be an uplifting as well as life changing experience which can be really inspiring a lot.

What kind of roles do you want to do now in films?

I do not want to restrict myself to just films or TV serials; I want to try my hand at acting in OTT platforms if I get a really good as well as challenging role, especially because language is no longer a barrier for an actor. I am ready to act even in a Telugu film be it a film or a series or an OTT platform