The women in Bollywood musicals are often painfully perfect with their flawless skin, swanky designer clothes and salon-finish hair.
But director Sunhil Sippy had an unusual request for Sonakshi Sinha, his leading actress from his drama Noor, out in the UAE on April 20.
“One of the first things that I did with Sonakshi was to strip her off all make-up. There, I saw the most beautiful woman. She just lit up the screen and it’s almost like you could see through her... It was such a lovely kick-off point,” said Sippy in an interview with Gulf News tabloid!. He claims that his film, an adaptation of Pakistani author Saba Imitiaz’s novel Karachi, You Are Killing Me, is a perfect cinematic cocktail of drama, emotion, candor and wit.
Noor chronicles the life of a twenty-something journalist in Mumbai struggling to come out of a quarter-life crisis. Just like most working women out there, the clumsy but adorable Noor struggles to get into a skinny jeans, has an exacting, snarky boss who puts her through the grind and is still waiting for that perfect man to complete her single existence.
“She’s chasing perfection... the perfect relationship in her life, the perfect career, the perfect work-life balance... but then she realises that she is content and happy when she learns to embrace her imperfections,” said Sinha about her title role.
This actress made her debut with Salman Khan as that plucky village belle in the testosterone-charged Dabangg and was often lampooned for playing roles that reduced her to glorified eye-candy. But her recent career choices in which she played strong roles, in films such as Akira as a troubled college student, has shaken that perception a bit.
“It was an absolutely refreshing change to play an everyday girl who wants to achieve a lot in life in Noor... It was liberating to play the title role and I happy that my recent characters in films like Akira, Force 2 and the soon to be released Ittefaq allowed me to go to different zones as an actor. It’s a validation for an actor like me,” said Sinha, who agreed to be a part of Noor after she read the first two pages of the script.
The film was shot in Mumbai at a record speed of 39 days and on a tight budget.
“I haven’t made a film for many years and it was really hard to decide the kind of film that I wanted to make my comeback with. I wanted the story to be accessible, with some drama and with a sense of humour. And I was particular that my grey protagonist was completely relatable and real,” said Sippy, adding that it was always challenging to make characters with grey shades in them endearing. The challenge was to make Noor instantly relatable, organic and endearing.
Sinha still remembers her director’s brief.
“He didn’t want me to be over-the-top or ‘filmy’ with any of the scenes. What you will love about this film is how real these characters seem. With Noor, I felt like I didn’t even need to act. I was just being myself,” said Sinha.
Though Sippy believed in workshops that called for repeated readings and discussions, Sinha wasn’t a fan of that working style.
“But the funny part was that she was the most instinctive actor. What was incredible was the she could instinctively react to scenes. She didn’t like preparation but what astonished me was that her reactions in the scenes were bang on,” said Sippy.
But is Noor modelled after Bridget Jones, played wonderfully by Rene Zellweger?
“I have seen Bridget Jones and I loved it, but I wasn’t influenced by her while playing Noor,” said Sinha. The director also stresses that the lovable Hollywood character had focussed on her love life, but Noor has a more well-rounded approach.
“Bridget Jones had a more simplistic approach and it was about satisfying the love aspect of her life... Noor is about a woman and her journey of growing as a complete individual... her growth is all-encompassing and not shallow in that sense,” said Sippy.
The film also explores sexuality in a no-frills manner. The trailer indicates Noor goofily making jokes about her sex life or the lack thereof. A refreshing change from a Bollywood landscape of films that has a tendency to make a big deal out of it.
“It was important for me not to judge her... There was no judgement on her for being a sexual being... just because she sleeps with someone doesn’t make her morally ambiguous,” said Sippy, adding that Noor’s physical needs wasn’t dissected unnecessarily.
Their approach to this film being female-centric is equally similar.
What’s all that drama about, they wonder.
“Yes, it has a female protagonist but let us not attach so much importance to it. I agree that Bollywood is skewed towards men in general. But while it is important to appreciate the effort gone into it, let’s not stress about it being female-centric,” said Sippy.
But Sinha is happy that she’s a part of the movement that’s taking over Hindi cinema where actresses are being sought out for bolder and stronger roles.
“Deepika [Padukone], Anushka [Sharma], Vidya [Balan] and Kangna [Ranaut] are all a part of that same movement. I think we are all working towards some kind of equality,” said Sinha.
Don’t miss it
Noor releases in the UAE on April 20.
Quote Unquote:
Sonakshi Sinha on who should interview had she been a journalist like Noor in real life:
“I would have loved to interview Lady Ga Ga since I hear she plans her shows on her own, composes her owns song. She’s the mark of a complete genius.”
Sonakshi Sinha on nepotism debate:
“I am tired of being asked that question and frankly I don’t want to add more fuel to that fire.”
