00:00I had this attitude that, you know, daily soap is rubbish, it's a piece of s**t.
00:04And then I decided, okay, if it's a piece of s**t and I'm playing in it,
00:06I'm going to be the best s**t there is.
00:08If you want to emulate Khan, it's not about seafront and beaches and the red carpet.
00:13It's about this respect, regard, and maybe that's why they have a section called Uncertain Regard.
00:23Audiences in general discuss a lot about,
00:27you know, media and everyone not promoting art cinema.
00:30But do you think they also play an important role?
00:34They also have a responsibility in promoting these films?
00:37You know, the reason why art cinema is not promoted enough is something that is,
00:42I'll tell you, it's a bit of a sidetrack.
00:44And most people don't pay attention to that.
00:46We build a lot of religious places.
00:48In every town, you will find 20 of them.
00:50How many cinemas do you have in every town?
00:52Small cinemas, where a film does not have to go through the whole routine of
00:57a massive multiplex complex, where an ordinary person can feel comfortable going,
01:04spend not so much money that they spend when they have to go to a multiplex as a family to watch a film.
01:09So we build a lot of things that sustain our spirit.
01:13So we build our temples, our churches, our mosques.
01:16Endlessly, we'll give money.
01:17But nobody gives that kind of money to make nice, small, economic cinema halls.
01:24The big films can release in the big hall.
01:26That's fine.
01:27It's good.
01:28But if you have five multiplexes, you should have at least 15 smaller theaters
01:36so that every kind of cinema can be seen there.
01:39And it becomes a personal experience.
01:40A person buys a ticket for really much less, just goes in and sits
01:45and has some local tea, which is provided by the local vendors.
01:49And that they can do regularly enough.
01:52Then that becomes a space for cinema.
01:54So do you feel like international arenas like Cannes, for example,
01:57you have so many, like hundreds and thousands of people coming here to make these kind of films.
02:02Do you think that is something that's lacking in India right now?
02:06Well, I think Cannes has over many, many decades
02:09made and probably justifiably so made itself a reputation of a place of quality
02:17and of inclusiveness.
02:19Like this year, we have seven films that are,
02:23Shameless has got an international producers and also now an Indian producer.
02:27Yes.
02:27But we have seven Hindi films, Indian films from India.
02:32And that is so great.
02:34And Payal Kapadia's film is in competition with the biggies of Hollywood.
02:38You know, and I think that is the greatness about Cannes, you know.
02:42And if you want to emulate Cannes, it's not about
02:45seafront and beaches and the red carpet.
02:49It's about this respect, regard.
02:53And maybe that's why they have a section called Uncertain Regard.
02:56So it's about this respect and this regard and this, how should I say,
03:01devotion to creating great, to allowing great cinemas to be
03:07showcased and therefore to be created.
03:10Lead role or strong supporting character?
03:13Ideally, lead role.
03:15I'll tell you why.
03:17I've understood.
03:19Whenever I've played the lead roles in films or in television or wherever,
03:25it's almost like the lead role in some strange way determines the way
03:30the actor or the actress playing the lead role.
03:33It almost determines how the whole community is in many ways, you know.
03:38So if you play a star who has a lot of attitude and I'm the lead role,
03:43it percolates down.
03:44So I like being in control of the atmosphere on sets that's created.
03:49And I find when I'm in the lead role, there's a certain sense of joy
03:54that is there, you know.
03:57If you're in a strong supportive role,
03:59very often if you're a very strong actress like I am,
04:02first of all, sometimes especially the main, they get threatened, the mainstream stars.
04:07And directors also protect their mainstream stars, the main leads.
04:11And they say, oh my God, she's getting too strong.
04:13It's a supporting role, but she's so strong,
04:16she's going to overshadow this lead role of mine.
04:19So then they start making these cuts and snips and,
04:22you know, little tweaking here and there.
04:24Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki versus Siddheshwari Devi.
04:29Yes, which character?
04:31This is a tough one because I think as an actress,
04:35while Siddheshwari is definitely my favorite,
04:39and I think one of my most difficult to master performances,
04:43it was also one of my earliest performances.
04:45So there was a freshness to it, which I'm not sure I can even attain.
04:51Or achieve now, I feel that.
04:54So definitely Siddheshwari for all the right reasons.
04:57But I also have to, now it's a strange thing because,
05:00it's because of Mani Kaul, my director of Siddheshwari,
05:02that when I was having qualms about being in Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki and not sure,
05:08he said, you know, if you change the way you treat your performance,
05:12everything around you will change.
05:14And that's exactly what happened.
05:16So I had this attitude that, you know, daily soap is rubbish.
05:19It's a piece of sh**.
05:20And then I decided, okay, if it's a piece of sh** and I'm playing in it,
05:23I'm going to be the best sh** there is.
05:24And the day I decided that,
05:26that's the day Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki ratings went and left the other serials behind.
05:30Suddenly my character became this hugely popular character
05:33where people would actually say, you know,
05:35we quickly eat our dinner just because the minute we hear that
05:38she's on in this episode, my character.
05:41And as Mani had said, my attitude towards the role as an actress,
05:48actually shaped everybody's attitude after that, including the producer.
05:53I told Ekta Kapoor, well, if you want me to play this character in a certain way,
05:56you have to open the frame.
05:58You can't do this frame.
05:59You know, she was used to just casting actors in this
06:01because it was easy to cast a non-actor and just play with this much.
06:06So that was the incredible thing.
06:08With Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki, I realized that if you are given a role
06:13and you go all out to perform it with your full sensibility and talent,
06:20then even that gets elevated to another level.
06:24So I think my character in Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki,
06:26one of the finest comic villains, almost like out of a comic strip.
06:31I think comic villains are very difficult roles to play,
06:34especially comic, you know, the comic element in it.
06:37Because it was so bizarre, this character,
06:38pushing a wheelchair down a flight of stairs, you know,
06:41you can't do it seriously.
06:42You have to do it in this like this mad, wicked witch style,
06:46which is also to be real.
06:48So I would enjoy it with a flourish.
06:50And I would also make fun of my own character.
06:53Like I would show her idiosyncrasies, her weaknesses.
06:57If she has a fall, you know, she's like not superwoman.
07:00She's like, oh, so, you know, all that.
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