Murali Sharma and his wife Ashwini play a Pakistani couple in the upcoming film Mehbooba, director Puri Jagannadh’s next. The actor says that it was quite a challenge to play the role as it demanded a level of proficiency in Urdu which Murali lacked.
Luckily for him, his wife is fluent in Urdu after having played the role of Mahamanga in the serial Jodha Akbar for over two years. Ashwini also had her make-up artist, Wasim, and her driver, Ayatollah Sayyed, to turn to for inputs. Every time Murali struggled with his dialogue, his wife and her two lieutenants came to his rescue.
What was it like, having his wife as his teacher? “It was very tough! Considering my limited attention span and how strict she can be, the classroom on set wasn’t exactly what a student would wish for! Thank god she isn’t a teacher in real life. Her students would have jumped out of the windows,” Murali says with a smile.
However, he accepts that the result was worth the effort. Though he may have complained all through, he has his wife to thank for his impeccable diction in the movie.
