Sarika will soon be seen in Sooraj R. Barjatya’s Uunchai. The film, which also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Neena Gupta and Parineeti Chopra, will release on November 11. The Free Press Journal caught up with the veteran actress for an exclusive chat.
Sarika has reunited with Rajshri Productions after ages. Her previous collaboration with them was way back in 1975 for the film Geet Gaata Chal. Opening up about it, the actress says, “Yes, yeh ghar wapsi wali feeling thi. It is very interesting and very emotional. Of course, the role is good and you feel so nice.”
When asked about her journey in showbiz, she states, “It has been amazingly wonderful but it has been a huge learning process because I started as a kid. That became the learning essence of the actor in me. Learning is a never ending process. Every time you pick up something new and learn from that. It’s such a beautiful process.”
Sarika then reveals her trekking experience for Uunchai. “We trekked for one month. In fact, not only did we trek, but we were climbing up and down frequently. It was a hectic two hours down to the location then you trek the entire day for shooting and climb up again. So it was three hours in total. We did this for three months. A three hundred plus unit was there. It was physically very exhausting,” she recalls.
When asked what changes she has noticed in cinema from then and now, she shares, “Cinema has changed a lot like everything else. There is a kind of revolution. Its nature and change is the spice of life. Cinema is also thus experiencing changes. We see good cinema now. Technically you find innumerable changes for the better. Films like RRR and many great films are being made. It’s like we dream something and watch surreal visuals. We wished to tell someone how it looked in dreams. Today, a director can effectively put that dream on the celluloid so well as technology in filmmaking has enhanced to another level. The creativity and structure looks so fantastic. It’s not that it was not there then. But now we have modernised that structure. The advent of OTT is so brilliant.”
The actress is keen to work in the OTT space. “I am open to OTT. Wherever my craft takes me, I will go there. It’s very simple. OTT has brought in wonderful directors, makers and performers. Even the audiences have changed. The makers are aware of the fact that the audiences have changed and looking for some different and changed yet alluring content,” she avers.
On a parting note, when quizzed if she would like to helm a movie someday, she concludes, “I wouldn’t like to direct. I am having a good time acting now. Let the directors do the hard work.”
