The next few days are an acid test for Raima Sen. She is up
on trial on Eklavya and Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd (which releases
next month). TWF correspondent Vickey Lalwani chats up the happening
Bong
You play a mentally challenged girl
in Eklavya?
Yes. I play Nandini, Prince Yashwardhan's (Saif Ali Khan) sister.
She is like an eight year old trapped in the body of a 25 year
old.
So how did you prepare for it?
Pradeep Sarkar (who directed Parineeta) auditioned me about
three or four times, and he told me to observe children and
their behaviour. Every time I went to Vidhu's home, I would
minutely observe his daughter Zuni. Vidhu and I had discussions
about how Nandini would speak, and about her mannerisms.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra is said to be a tough
task master?
Yes. For the song Chanda re, I had to learn to fly a kite.
I did not read the script properly, and missed it. So I did
not learn how to fly a kite. He got annoyed then.
So how was that scene shot?
We had to cheat by showing the action of flying a kite, but
there was no kite there.
You have a kissing scene with Kay Kay
in Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd. Were you told about the kissing
scene?
I had been clearly told that there was a kiss for me in this
film.
You were very uncomfortable in the kissing
scene with Kay Kay?
Yes, both I and Kay Kay were very uncomfortable before the
shot. The director Reema had to justify to us that the kiss
was essential. Before the kiss was shot, Kay Kay and I shot
another scene which required us to get intimate. Both scenes
were canned on the same day. Once the initial hiccups were
overcome, we went ahead and shot a beautiful scene. I can't
tell you more about the kiss because it would give away the
surprise element in my track.
Go on...
Kay Kay and I are shown as a couple on their honeymoon. We
are not showing anything unnatural in their kiss. But it's
not something drastic, like the Aamir-Karisma liplock in Raja
Hindustani or Hrithik-Aishwarya's in Dhoom 2. Honestly speaking,
it's a cheat kiss (A cheat kiss means you 'cheat' the audiences
into thinking that the on-screen couple is indulging in a
serious lip-lock with the help of clever camera angles). What
matters in the end is that the shot was done effectively.
Tell us about your forthcoming films?
Incidentally, I have three films and all three start with
M and are English names (laughs). Manorama- Six Feet Under:
The film is a thriller starring Abhay Deol, Gul Panag and
me, directed by ad filmmaker debutante Navdeep. Abhay and
Gul play a married couple. Then I have Migration, a film directed
by Mira Nair and stars Shiney Ahuja, Irrfan Khan, me and Sameera
Reddy. I am a village belle Yamuna paired opposite Shiney.
Third is Meridian. The film, directed by debutant director
Vinay Mitra, stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Arjun Rampal, Abhay
Deol, Irrfan Khan, me and Soha Ali Khan. I play a film heroine
who is having an affair with her director; Arjun Rampal plays
a 70-year old man who was crazy about her in his previous
birth.
Any dream roles?
I would love to do all of them. I am extremely greedy. There
is so much I want to do. I have too many dreams to fulfill.
I hope I can fulfill them in this lifetime.
Are you happy with the way your
career is shaping up?
I am very focused and working extremely hard. Movies are part
of my life. Earlier I used to have more hobbies which I cannot
pay attention to now because movies take up all my time.
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