“As an actor, I am a risk taker, and as a mother we will soon find out”, says Richa Chadha, the pregnancy glow visible on her makeup-free face. The actor is expecting her first child with husband-actor Ali Fazal, in July this year.
It’s been a hectic last few months with the promotions of Heeramandi, as well as travelling to film festivals with Ali for her debut film as producer Girls Will Be Girls.
Richa plays the lovelorn, alcoholic courtesan Lajwanti in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s opulent epic Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazar. She made an impact with her brief appearance as a woman on the path of self-destruction. She says it was the greed to play a character diametrically opposite to anything that she had ever done before, that made her sign up for it. “I knew the arc of the character and where it was heading, so my effort was to humanise the experience for whoever is watching the show. I knew it was Bhansali’s project and that there would be chatter about how beautiful and glamourised everything is. I wanted the gut punch reality to come in through addiction and humiliation through Lajjo. Also, I don’t think people have ever seen or imagined me this way in a lovelorn and hopeless character, who has no motivation. All she wants is a normal life with the love of her life and acts morally superior to the rest in that aspect, who are all driven by some agenda. I loved playing into that illusion.”
On Sanjay Leela Bhansali
The show has opened to mixed reviews, with some lauding Bhansali’s keen eye for ostentatious narratives and the female lens, some have criticised the show for being showy but lacking in substance. Richa is quick to defend the same. “I don’t read a ton of reviews for this reason. If they’re very positive, it can get to one’s head and if it’s not, then it can be upsetting. Honestly, I feel Bhansali is true to himself as a maker. In his vision, it is how he imagines his world, it is quintessential Bollywood, with the big sets and lots of drama and the punchy dialogues and so if people were expecting reality from this, then I don’t know what to say because, as it said any similarities between reality is merely co-incidental”.
Heermandi being Richa Chadha’s second collaboration with Sanjay Leela Bhansali after Ram Leela, says he not only brings out the best in her but also helps her explore the character with him. “You get a lot of breathing space, how it is a matter of the heart and has to be told in a certain way. I like pushing myself that way with him. He also realizes the hunger in an actor who is willing to go past all boundaries, he pushes you more,” she says.
On husband Ali Fazal
Richa married her long-time partner Ali Fazal in 2022. The two met on the sets of Fukrey in 2012. Calling him a true partner in all aspects she says “I lucked out. He is a true partner. There’s never any discussion about who does what, we equally share household chores and everything else. It is wonderful being
with him.”
“I’ve been blessed with a great partner who is as nurturing and excited about the life we are bringing into the world as I am. He never says ‘she’s pregnant’, he says ‘we’re pregnant’ and this is what we are planning for the baby’s arrival.”
“Ali is a true fashionista and heavily into chickankari and handloom. Regarding our production work, I will spend my maternity leave, reading the scripts which need my attention”
After launching their production company Pushing Buttons, which won acclaim for its first feature Girls Will Be Girls, a moving mother and daughter story which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, the couple have also launched ‘Ehaab Couture’ to promote Lucknavi Chickankari.
Mixed reviews for Heeramandi
“I don’t read reviews for this reason. If they’re very positive, it can get to one’s head and if it’s not, then it can be upsetting. Honestly, I feel Bhansali is true to himself as a maker. In his vision, it is how he imagines his world, it is quintessential Bollywood, with the big sets and the lots of drama and the punchy dialogues and so if people were expecting reality from this, then I don’t know what to say because, as it said any similarities between reality is merely co-incidental”.
Richa plays the lovelorn, alcoholic courtesan Lajwanti in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s opulent epic Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazar. She made an impact with her brief appearance as a woman on the path of self-destruction. She says it was the greed to play a character diametrically opposite to anything that she had ever done before, that made her sign up for it.
