Actress Anushka Sharma is not delusional about her power and clout in the Hindi film industry.
The Yash Raj Films discovery, who made her debut with Shah Rukh Khan in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and went on to produce and act in gripping films such as the dark thriller NH-10, believes that the Hindi film industry is still run by men.
“The industry is male-dominated. But I want everyone to see things differently... but it takes a while to get people to accept and grasp those changes. There’s disparity and it’s deep rooted,” said Sharma during a round table discussion about her new film Phillauri.
“Even the way they [the studios and producers] talk to you is different... It’s something that you have to deal with every day,” said Sharma.
Recently, Bollywood has come under fire for encouraging favouritism and actresses such as Kangna Ranaut have openly challenged them.
“So more power to all who fight that [the traditional way of functioning]... As soon as films with women as the main lead do well, once that begins to happen, then the producers and studios will take notice,” said Sharma, who believes that Ranaut, Deepika Padukone and Ali Bhatt are trailblazers in her profession.
Watch the review of #Bollywood film #Phillauri starring Anushka Sharma and #SurajSharma.
But change doesn’t happen overnight. Sharma is willing to take change the dynamics by rolling out one good film at a time.
Enter Phillauri, which opens in the UAE cinemas on March 23. Gulf News tabloid! picks out the top ten things to know about Phillauri, gleaned from the stars themselves ...
1. Phillauri stars Anushka Sharma, Diljit Dosanjh and Suraj Sharma. The romantic comedy follows Kanan (Suraj’s first Bollywood role) who is Manglik and marries a tree to ward off evil and smoothen his love life. A Manglik, according to Hindu astrology, is born during an inauspicious time, and this in turn is believed to bring bad luck to whomever they marry. To prevent this bad luck, the person is made to marry a tree first.
In Phillauri, the tree that Kanan marries also houses Shashi’s ghost, played by Anushka, who then begins interacting with him.
“It’s a family entertainer. It has humour, drama and love. There are also new elements that you will discover with this film that you have not seen in any other Bollywood film,” said Anushka in a round table interview with the local press last week.
2. Anushka returns to production after her award-winning thriller NH-10 with Phillauri. She describes herself as a “calm and composed” producer.
“Each film preps you to deal with the difficulties that has to come... It was an easy process with Phillauri because we were very well-prepped and we were working on a good speed. When a bunch of good talented people participate in a project, then difficulties reduce. Also, we did not compromise on the CG [computer graphics] part of the film,” said Anushka.
3. Suraj Sharma describes his first Bollywood venture with an A-lister like Anushka as a film that will trigger multiple emotions in viewers.
“The film takes you in multiple time spaces. You will explore the old world of romance and the modern travails of love … Phillauri will be like that wholesome meal, a South India thali. This film has a bit of everything,” said Suraj.
4. Anushka shot down reports that Phillauri was inspired from Tim Burton’s cult classic, Corpse Bride, starring Johnny Depp.
“I have personally not watched the film. But the first thing that people do when a trailer of a film releases is to jump to conclusions. I think Corpse Bride is very much in the Tim Burton-dark-kind of space. Phillauri is a fun, family entertainer. So just ignore those comparisons.”
5. Anushka was not just a nominal producer who merely rolled out the money. She was involved in the creative and casting process. When the matter of deciding an actor for the role of Kanan — a young man from Delhi who studied in Canada — came up, Anushka and team assumed that the Life of Pi star did not speak Hindi well. But much to their surprise, Suraj spoke Hindi fluently and that too with a Delhi twang, which was perfect for them.
6. Anushka was careful about not going overboard with her acting due to the fear of reducing her character, Shashi, into a caricature.
“The thing is while Shashi is a lovable ghost, her personality doesn’t change drastically. Her personality is the same as that when she was alive. The comedy is not stemming from Shashi alone. Kanan’s fears about interacting with a spirit also brings up a lot of humorous situations. It’s a glorious mess. Even the ghost is as scared as Kanan and that’s the beauty of this film,” said Anushka.
7. While the film touches upon the issue of Indian traditions, it’s not a commentary on arranged marriages.
“It’s not a comment on Indian society. Our film has a few observations about us, but we have not touched upon the cultural traditions or gone deep into it. About the part of Suraj marrying tree, my brother happens to be a Manglik but he is not going to get married to a tree in real life. We were asking him to get married to a tree for marketing our film, but he refused,” said Anushka with a laugh.
8. A unique marketing strategy with the hashtag #ShashiWasThere was launched to publicise the film. So you had Anushka as this friendly ghost who turned up at momentous events such as the Oscars and in space.
“It was such a cool way to promote the film.”
9. Wondering what kind of tree would Anushka and Suraj marry if they were forced to marry a tree or an inanimate object?
“I would marry a mango tree, because I love that fruit,” said Suraj. But, Anushka isn’t a fan of fruits, but would opt to marry an apple tree since they flourished in cold climates and she prefers to live in a cool place.
10. Phillauri is directed by Anshai Lal who has been working in Hindi films since 2006. Lal has assisted in films including Pyaar Ke Side Effects and Dostana.
Don’t miss it
Phillauri releases in the UAE on March 23.
QUOTE-UNQUOTE
“I have zero interest in spying on anyone and I don’t want any information in my head about anyone else,” said Anushka Sharma, when asked about whom she would spy on if she had such divine powers.
“I would spy on my brother who’s going on this exceptional travel adventure,” said Suraj Sharma.
DID YOU KNOW?
Suraj Sharma, who worked with director Ang Lee on Life of Pi, still keeps in touch with the award-winning artist.
“He’s not into fancy restaurants. He likes to eat in the hole-in-the-wall places,” said Sharma, who’s contemplating sending a copy of Phillauri to him.
