Close to life, close to reality

Neha Saini

Whether it’s the feisty bholi Punjaban of Fukrey or the rebellious yet vulnerable Devi of Masaan, Richa Chadda has always managed to impress with ‘her’ kind of cinema. The actor has joined the star cast of upcoming film Sarabjit, a biopic being made on the Indian farmer, who was jailed in Pakistan on the charges of spying. Richa plays the character of Sarabjit’s wife Sukhpreet Kaur and says this too will be a ‘different’ performance.

“My character would be of a shy, timid Punjabi girl, who lives a quiet life in a village. I had to shed off the urban image and learn the Punjabi accent for the role,” she said. The actor will be seen a full, Punjabi avatar and has shot for a song recently.

Sharing the screen space once again with Randeep Hooda after Main Aur Charles, who will be seen as Sarabjit in the film, Chadda says that she enjoys playing real life characters on screen. “It’s challenging to justify the character that you are playing and in Sarabjit, I have been given the freedom to lend my own touch, since I never met or interacted with the real life Sukhpreet Kaur. All I know about her is that she never had a very public personality and was always in the background.”

Chadda will shoot along with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who is playing the role of Sarabjit’s sister. The two of them have bonded quite well on the sets. “Aishwarya is a sweetheart. She is a lovely and kind person. I was nervous initially given her star status but she made me quite comfortable and we often shared a few tips on the sets,” shares Chadda.

For someone, who has created her own space in star-powered Bollywood by doing strong, female-centric films, Richa says she cannot quite relate to the recent debate on pay disparity between male and female actor in Bollywood. “I have done films mostly that understand the strength of female characters, so I cannot really comment on the entire debate. We do have a problem when the script or marketing of a film is solely designed around a particular male star.” Sarabjit is being directed by Omung Kumar of Mary Kom fame and will release on May 19.