 Mahie Gill was Paro in 'Dev D' but she could well be termed as
'Chandramukhi' in 'Gulaal' due to her triple role of a mistress, mujra
dancer and a beauty parlor owner in the film. Joginder Tuteja catches
up with the immensely talented actor who promises to fill the void that
currently exists in Bollywood when it comes to a quality performer.
Before getting on to 'Gulaal', let's talk about 'Dev D' first. With
Anurag's radically different narrative in Dev D, did you really expect
it to become the kind of success it has become?
Honestly speaking, I thought it will be critically acclaimed and may
just about turn out to be a moderate commercial success. Seriously, I
didn't think that it will bring in audience in hordes that it has been
doing even one month after it's release. The way audience as well as
media lapped the film was exceptional. I was worried that in my
hometown Chandigarh, journalists may not react well to the film because
of it's narrative, openness and rawness. It turned out to be a pleasant
surprise though when even up there in Punjab, the film was accepted
wholeheartedly.
In fact one can't remember a film where female sexuality was explored with such openness..
Exactly, the way female sexuality has been explored in the film has
been phenomenal. In fact while shooting for the said scenes, I didn't
have any clue on how they will come across on the screen. I was like,
'Ya, I am doing my job with sincerity and trust Anurag to present it
well on screen'. Thankfully, my trust was in the right place and these
scenes turned out to be path breaking instead of touching upon
vulgarity.
One hopes that you have many more important scenes in 'Gulaal' too even though you are seen in a special appearance.
Of course yes. Apart from some important scenes in the film, I have
also done two 'mujra' numbers - 'Ranaji' and 'Chakmak'. They are great
fun tracks.
Yes, indeed the case, especially 'Ranaji' that makes a socio-political statement, isn't it?
The number is as whacky as it gets. In a lighter vein, it manages to
make a serious statement around today's socio-economic condition of the
entire world. It makes references to quite a few topics like 9/11,
Uncle Sam, Saddaam Hussain, Afghanistan, mineral water, democracy etc.
Never before has one heard or seen a 'mujra' number like this.
By Joginder Tuteja
Sampurn Media
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