Why does Sridevi have only two films (Laadla with Anil and Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin with Akshay) in hand? Is it an exit and marriage to Roja's hero, or a well deserved holiday, or a switchover to the South or... just a watchful wait before she plans out her strike back?
A chat which burgeoned into an interview with the woman who makes hearts pulsate even today. Attire: casual, attitude: formal. Sridevi's answers are tellingly crisp. An update.
Q: They say your role in Laadla is that of a total anti-heroine. Aren't you jumping onto the bandwagon by playing a negative role?
A: Yes, today the anti-hero has really worked. The masses seem to want more and more of these multi dimensional, strongly portrayed characters. I mean instead of the white hero and black villain they prefer the grey anti-hero and why not, if they identify with him.
But when I signed Laadla, I was quite oblivious of these trends that were going to control the future. I thought the role I am playing would be a very challenging one. Today it has become one of the many instead of the exception but I am putting my heart and soul into it. I won't exactly call the character an anti-heroine but she comes very close to being one.
Q: Anil was going into raptures admiring your performance in the film.
A: (simply) Yes?
Q: There are rumours that you've more or less shifted to the South after having signed half a dozen Telugu films there.
A: Whoever told you that I returned to regional cinema in a big way? For years I have always been doing one film a year in Telugu on my mother's insistence and of course because it gives me a lot of pleasure too. But the commitment from my side has never been more than a single movie a year. Nor have things changed today. Even last year I had done Kshana Kshanam and this year too I am doing exactly one film. I am definitely not more committed to Telugu cinema than I am to Hindi.
Q: But I've heard that Nagma who's taken your place in the South is reportedly is very threatened at your return to Telugu cinema.
A: (Holds my hand in anguish). No, no. I think Nagma has the wrong notion. You must clear it completely. You must get in touch with Nagma and clear all such thoughts. I repeat staunchly I am not making any comeback of any sorts in Telugu cinema. I am only sticking to what has been my annual routine.
Q: Which are the Hindi films you're working for right now?
A: Besides the South film there is Laadla and there is Meri Biwi Ka Jawaab Nahin (opposite Akshay Kumar). Right now I'm concentrating on these three films.
Q: And what about Chand Ka Tukda?
A: I want to complete all the backlog of projects I have like Chand Ka Tukda. Only the patchwork shooting for the film is there to be done. I have a project in mind in Telugu but then again the project isn't taking off because of lack of dates. Now for two months I'm going to be in Bombay, where is the time for story sessions, song recordings etc?
Q: Which is this project?
A: We hold the rights for Gumrah and we're thinking of making it in Telugu.
Q: Do you feel charged when doing a remake? Or is it that you feel you've been given a chance to fill in the gaps and improve upon your original performance?
A: You can't do a full length film with improvement as the only aim. If you try that, people realise it. You can't fool the audience you know. A striking example of this is Sadma for which I receive mail even today saying I was better in the Tamil original. I make a note of these things and am very selective about the kind of films remade. Many sequences have to be innovated and many other things have to be changed drastically before I even consider a remake. If a remake is like the original scene by scene, how are you going to be motivated? That is what I would call mimicry not acting. And basically every regional or Hindi cinema, for that matter has its own set formats and one has to follow that. In Telugu I think the audience prefer more song and dance extravaganzas so I have to keep that in mind when I remake Gumrah in Telugu.
Q: Do you think there was place for more songs in a movie as sleek as Gumrah?
A: That is exactly what I am referring to when I "prefer ace of the audience". If song sequences are not there in the basic script, I think we can fit some songs as part of the character's imagination. It makes the film more commercial, you know. Of course Gumrah was an out and out commercial film but made to cater more to the classy audience whereas my Telugu version will be targeted at the masses.
Q: There are rumous that you are going to be married to Arvind Swamy.
A: Pardon me, who? Oh, the man who was acted in Roja. I haven't even seen him except when I saw Roja. This is just one more impossible rumour.
Q: So finally what excites you today?
A: Any script that is new, different and which is not a remake (giggles away) and something that allows me to learn more and more about acting as an art. You will be surprised but I learn some new thing every moment I spend in the studio.
Writer Sonali Kotnis
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