Vidya Balan, who plays the bold and aggressive Begum Jaan in a film of the same name, told Scroll that she would consider it a compliment if the audience didn’t warm up to her character, who is quite unlikeable.
“I love that the character has negative shades, and I take it as a compliment if you don’t like her. While making Hamari Adhuri Kahani, I told Mr Mahesh Bhatt that I wanted to play an out-and-out baddie who bashes and slaps and screams unapologetically. I am a very angry woman deep down, and I guess every woman is. I wanted to vent this anger.
I enjoyed every moment of the shoot. Having said that, I found it tough to express anger. There is a scene in which I have to repeatedly slap a new member of the brothel. I kept kissing the actress Mishti’s head and put ice on her forehead and massaged it later. I have never slapped anyone before.”
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Vidya Balan also revealed the real reason behind her exit from Kamaluddin’s biopic on Kamala Das. “It was very unfortunate. I finally opted out because we had creative differences. It was made out to be something else, which I don’t appreciate at all. There wasn’t an iota of truth that I was threatened against playing the role in any way. That statement came as a shock to me – I have not received one word from anyone.
Kamala Das is very well respected, and when you are playing a real-life character, you have to be that much more careful about someone revered and loved. I would rather not do it than do it badly.”