These seven fiesty ladies have taken not just India but the world by storm with their film. Here’s a quick interview
Pavleen, Tannishtha, Sarah, Rajshri Anushka and Sandhya
What do you think 3 Idiots, Rock On, Dil Chahta Hai, Rang De Basanti, Kai Po Che and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara all have in common? Aside of the all-pervasive theme of friendship, the overplayed cliché that only men seem to be able to get on like a house on fire. Like a breath of fresh air, Pan Nalin’s Angry Indian Goddesses hopes to set the record straight by being Bollywood’s first-ever film to focus entirely on women’s friendships. In Bengaluru to promote their film that’s set to hit the screens next Friday, the all-female cast got chatty about being part of the movement.
While a bachelorette week before a wedding drives the plot, what keeps it going are the seven firebrand women shattering stereotypes, turning heads and getting as real as real can be – just like they are in real life. “It’s often thought that a movie can’t be successful with just women in them. But now, it’s not about what gender you belong to as much as the performance you can give,” says model Pavleen Gujral, who takes on the role of a trophy wife in the film. For Sarah Jane Dias, the film came at a time when she was looking to do something different. She believes she was herself on and off the screen. “There can never be one way to define the contemporary Indian woman, but I definitely think we’re moving in the direction of being supportive when she’s outspoken and allowing her to have more voice for instance,” she says. True to that definition, her fellow actresses Anushka Manchanda, Amrit Maghera, Sandhya Mridul, Pavleen Gujral and Rajshri Deshpande all take up spunk-driven roles – that of a CEO, bike-riding singer, fashion photographer, a half-Indian starlet, an activist and a maid.
While actresses sharing screen space are often at loggerheads for the prominence they receive, for these lasses it seems quite the contrary. From strangers who hadn’t even heard of each other, they have now moved on to speed dial lists. “We’ve realised it’s not necessary to be in touch all the time but we often pick up where we left off. The rest of the girls always gave me feedback on what was expected of newcomers and I was comfortable enough to not be closed to criticism either,” says Rajshri Deshpande, a Mumbai-based theatre artiste. After premiering to critical acclaim at Canada, Rome and the Mumbai International Film Festivals, Angry Indian Goddesses is now being remade into French and Greek too – all for its realistic portrayal of women and its subtle references to the irony prevailing in our country – a country where gender stereotypes and inequality is rampant while worshipping the strength of Goddess Durga. “It’s not just in Bollywood, but the world over,” says Amrit Maghera, an English-Punjabi actress who started out her career as a dancer for the likes of Kanye West and Guns N Roses. “Stereotypes have been engrained in our society that translates and transfers on to films where women get handed item girl roles. But hopefully that’ll change and we’ll be a start of that,” she says, portraying a half-Indian starlet in the film.
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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