With three films this year, Amrita Rao talks of her rare presence on the screen.
Talking about her releases Amrita Rao says, “I have three back-to-back films ready for release. There’s ‘Jolly L L B’, ‘Singh Saheb The Great’ opposite Sunny Deol and ‘Satyagraha’ with Amitabh Bachchan. I haven’t signed any films after that. I am being patient. I chose what I liked. Many films came through way and I didn’t have to go looking for work or knocking doors. That was my stance.”
Being out of sight she says, “Sometimes, you have plans but they come crashing down and that is what happened to me. I had signed ‘Legend of Kunal’ with Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi and Tips film opposite Neil Nitin Mukesh but the films got stalled. I was given the signing amount and the films didn’t happen. They fizzled out. You get ruffled out but your family and people you know keep you grounded and help you balance your life.”
Amrita believes in luck, “Luck does help. No one can design what happens in your life. I never knew I would make a career in films or my first three films ‘Main Hoon Na’, ‘Masti’ and ‘Ishq Vishq’ would be hits. I have no complaints. I am very happy with my career. I am happy with ‘Jolly L L B’.”
Off late she has been portraying slightly different characters.
About her character in ‘Jolly L L B she says, “I am still the girl next door. I come from Meerut and play a small-town girl who is a teacher and falls in love with this lawyer. It was a different role. The director didn’t tell us that we have to make the audiences laugh. It was a cut and dry role and I enjoyed it because it was different.”
Happy with the compliment she has lately received as being the girl next door, she says, “I have achieved a compliment as the girl next door. I want audience to connect and relate to my character. I am playing an eastern UP journalist Sadhya in ‘Singh Saheb The Great’. ‘Satyagraha’ is again an intense role and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with Big B from scene one to climax. This is a unique opportunity and I am happy with the chemistry I shared with him on the sets.”
On her character in ‘Singh…’ she says, “It is an action film. I am playing a journalist. She has strong eastern UP accent. Anil Sharma made me watch a lot of news. I had to study that and keep the lingo intact. A reporter is somebody who has the intention of bringing the news aspect of your story and you need to have good communication skills and on ground report you have to assimilate the situation in a short span.”
On Friday jitters she says, “You come back and you are in disbelief and you can’t sleep. Mr Bachchan sits on his chair till pack up. He will go and refresh and return and I have never seen any actor do that. He will do it like his first film. I have also seen Shah Rukh khan do that. He has his own way of proving his uniqueness.”
She clarifies why “Love You… Mr. Kalakaar!’ didn’t do well. “You get emotionally involved and you feel bad. From the feedback I have received I thought that it should have had more entertainment value. For me it was one of my most dear performances.”
She has not regrets about her filmy journey, “I am happy with the kind of work I am doing. I am happy with my portfolio.”
“Director Subhash Kapoor’s unassuming narration took me by my feet. I never thought I would be a part of it. After narration, I didn’t say yes as
I never do so. I take time to think over the films. But when I knew Boman Irani and Arshad Warsi were part of it. I immediately said yes. I have watched his film ‘Phas Gaya Re Obama’ and it was a great film. Similarly, ‘Jolly
L L B’ is a great satire. Scenes of courts and how lawyers operate have been drawn from real life. It’s Boman’s finest performance yet and we have a college song which is very situational.”
Amrita tells us about her wishlist, “I want to do films that give me a new identity and respect as a performer. If I had to do films like ‘Ishq Vishk’ and ‘Vivah’ now, maybe I would have done it differently. I am not in the race. I want to be myself. I think you cannot compare apples and oranges. We have to be an apple, when apples are needed you can’t become an orange then. I was surprised when people told me that they wanted to see me on screen more often.
I am not the kind who will do one film a year. It doesn’t keep you alive. I have three films this year.”
On lawyers she says, “I think it’s a challenging profession and you get clients who are not doing the right think.”
She feels retro filmmaking is a phase, “Right now the Hindi film industry is going back to the 80s and they are adopting the formula of the decade. Hero and action-oriented films are back. We had explored romance and other territories. It’s a phase and it’s not going to last long.”
Amrita convinces us that every creative profession is hectic. “I wrote food reviews last year and realized that creativity comes under pressure. I admire how journalists do that under pressure. In any profession for anybody generalization is not good. In this profession everyone has hectic lifestyle. The best place to catch up is when you are working together.”
Tollywood is not for her. “After one Teulgu film ‘Athithi’ with Mahesh Babu I have not done any film. That’s not my space.”
Lipika Varma
