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Actor Richa Chadha garnered significant praise for her portrayal of Lajjo, a small but significant part, in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. She may have had limited screen time in the series, but her emotive performance in the song “Masoom Dil Hai Mera” resonated with audiences. However, behind the scenes, there was a tense moment between Chadha and Bhansali, which both the actor and the auteur have openly spoken about in their interviews.
In an interview with India Today, the Gangubai Kathiawadi director recalled an incident from the set which left the actor teary-eyed. Bhansali recounted his frustration when Chadha struggled to deliver the desired expressions. “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. 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. To vo thodi naraz hokar samne khadi rahi (She was upset and standing in front of the camera).”
Bhansali recalled seeing anger on the Fukrey actor’s face which he found “special”. He continued, “That moment was a result of what I said to her and what she said to me. But it got captured during the recording of the song. In all the songs that I’ve shot… every big music number I have shot… this was one of the rare moments of an actor feeling the humiliation of the scene that she went through rather than feeling the humiliation of me getting angry and saying, ‘How many takes will you want?’ The anger was from both sides, but you need to be in that state of mind because till then it won’t come on your face. Another actor might have stormed off the set in anger, but Richa and I both understood that the shot is more important, the song is more important, the scene is more important, and the series is more important than you and me.”
After Richa Chadha nailed the shot, the entire crew erupted in applause. “When she did it, I got up and the whole unit clapped. I went and hugged her, and we forgot about all that had happened before the shot. But sometimes, you have to arrive at that moment. An actor should be ready to arrive at that moment. A director has to wait and bring the actor to that moment. 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 is actually very disturbed.’ She held on to every beat. It was a very complicated shot. Lots of movements and shots. Till the last moment, she didn’t let go of that anger and frustration. I went to her after the shot. I said, ‘Sorry if I said something to you. She said, ‘I am sorry if I said something to you.’ So it was the moment that was waiting to happen,” he reminisced.
Richa Chadha later shared Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s comments on social media, writing, “Sir said some nice things about me…thank you for these words. Thank you for the opportunity! Every day I get so many DMs and compliments about that one single, round trolley shot…I bottled up my tears and used them in the take, and truly, thank you for whatever happened between us on that final day. A whole lot of love to you Mr Bhansali, and a big hug, artist to auteur.”
In her earlier interviews, Richa Chadha revealed that she had to give 99 takes for the dance sequence in “Masoom Dil Hai Mera,” admitting that the filmmaker was “losing patience” with her. Chadha told Galatta Plus, “He (SLB) is a master because he is a classically trained Odissi dancer, so he knows the taal, he knows the rhythm. I am trained in Kathak, which is a very different form. So, for that scene, I think he did a mixture of like Kubrick and Spielberg because he did 99 takes, he didn’t get it and he said ‘pack up’, and he left. Then, after a few days, he was like, ‘I am not happy with that take,’ and I was like, ‘I know, what do you want me to do?’ So he said, ‘Let’s do it!’ and we canned it in 20 minutes.”
Heeramandi, which premiered on Netflix on May 1, features an ensemble cast including Sonakshi Sinha, Manisha Koirala, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sanjeeda Shaikh, and Sharmin Segal. The series received mixed reviews. Despite the reception, the makers recently announced the next season of Heeramandi.
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