Recently Bollywood’s actress Lara Dutta’s home production film ‘Chalo Dilli’ was released and doing well on the box office. The actress had named her production company ‘Bhigi Basanti’ and she feels that this name is a tongue-in cheek take on Hindi Cinema that how they view their heroines in Bollywood.
While giving interview Lara further explained about her production company’s name, “Basanti’ obviously came from ‘Sholay’ and it’s also a typical Hindi film heroine name. I think ‘Bhigi Basanti’ is a very quintessential, typical image of a Hindi film heroine that has been in cinema across time. For me, it was a little bit of a tongue-in-cheek take also on how heroines are viewed in the Hindi film industry.”
Lara also shared her feelings about her first home production film ‘Chalo Dilli’ which was directed by Shashant Shah. She said, “Chalo Dilli’ was a very special film that came to us. It’s not a female-oriented film. It’s a story where both the cast have equal amounts to play and it feels nice to make a film, which is not arty or alternate cinema, it’s a commercial film with the simple story of a journey.”
It was enquired to her that the pairing was odd, she clarified, “It’s not necessary that you do all films with a superstar. If you think you will always do a film with a big actor, you would never get a chance to do a film. The story demanded someone like Vinay. He was very, very suited for the film. Shashant had written the script keeping Vinay in mind for the male character. He had first approached me to act in the film. He didn’t have a producer, neither did he know that ‘Bhigi Basanti’ existed.”
Recently Lara Dutta got married to Tennis ace Mahesh Bhupati. She had earlier worked in multi-starrer films such as ‘No Entry’, ‘Housefull’ and ‘Partner’ and was looking for an opportunity to show her talent as a solo actor. She said, “I was waiting for the pressure of delivering. It’s not that I was trying to hide away from that. In the industry, you get very little chance, very few scripts where an actress could do something or take the burden of the film and end up being the heroes’ wife, girlfriend or love interest.”
She also talked about her double responsibility for her production house film because she was also acting in it. She explained, “Being only an actor I used to deal with staff at one level and being a producer you have to deal with your actors at a different level. I am responsible for the whole unit. When your crew shoots in the freezing cold of Shekhawati, your responsibility multiplies. On the other hand, it’s such a high.”
It was asked to her whether her double responsibility distracted her from giving her best performance for it. She said, “Not at all. I think the level of professionals we are, once we are in front of the camera, nothing else matters.”
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