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Actor Jayati Bhatia, who played the character Phatto in Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, recalled the infamous incident in which her co-star Richa Chadha was reduced to tears on set because director Sanjay Leela Bhansali was dissatisfied by her performance. In an interview, Jayati said that her shoot was cancelled on the following day because of the drama that had gone down on set between Richa and Bhansali. In previous interviews, Richa said that she was made to do 99 retakes for a shot, which ultimately wasn’t used in the final cut.
Chatting with Bollywood Now, Jayati was asked about her interactions with Richa, who played the tragic character Lajjo on the show. She said, “I met Richa only a couple of times on set, for the ‘Sakal Ban’ song and then for her death scene. I had been told that she would only be there in two episodes, but I didn’t have an idea of her character. We spoke about Lajjo in scenes, but we didn’t know the extent of her fragility.”
Jayati continued, “I had heard of the famous 99 takes, and the only reason I’d heard about the incident was that my shoot was cancelled the next day. I asked why, and I was told, ‘Something major happened yesterday. Sir took 101 takes with Richa, he wouldn’t stop. Woh ro rahi thi, badi pareshan thi, yeh thi, woh thi (She was very upset, she was crying)’. I said, ’99 takes? Why? How?’ All of this I heard.”
Jayati said that she got a taste of Richa’s performance for the first time at the premiere, where the first two episodes of the eight-episode series were shown. She said that after the screening, she couldn’t get up from her seat because she was so moved by Richa’s performance. “She’s only there for two episodes, but when she dies, you feel a deep sense of loss,” she said.
In a recent interview with India Today, Bhansali addressed reports of his poor behaviour on set, and looked back on his experience with Richa, especially while shooting the song “Masoom Dil Hai Mera.” He said, ‘“That was a special moment. But unka baith nahi raha tha (Her performance wasn’t landing). She was trying, but I wasn’t getting what I wanted,” he said. “After a point, I got a little upset. I said, ‘You’ve rehearsed it, but it’s still not falling in place, you’re not getting the state of mind’. I got a little angry, and she became upset as well… If you are taking too many takes, and I scold you, then you will feel the humiliation that the character was meant to show. When I was watching it, I thought, ‘She’s actually crying’. She held on to every beat. Till the last moment, she didn’t let go of that anger and frustration.”
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