Breaking away from her “bubbly and positive” image in Bollywood, Juhi Chawla played the grey shade character of Sumitra Devi in 2014 film Gulaab Gang. The actress says she would “love” to play more negative roles if they will be “fantastic and edgier”.
“I would love to do more negative roles. I am open to doing something unusual again but I am spoiled after the experience of Gulaab Gang. The next negative character has to be something fantastic and edgier than Sumitra Devi,” Juhi said.
During her career, the 47-year-old mostly appeared in romantic or comic roles in films like Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Bol Radha Bol, Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke, Darr, Ishq, Son of Sardaar and Bhootnath. So, a negative role was a change.
“In 20 years of my career, I was only known for my bubbly, positive, sweet roles. I was apprehensive to play this kind of character who was completely evil from the first to last scene. So, I refused the role at first. But I liked the spunk in Gulaab Gang,” Juhi added.
In Gulaab Gang, which will be aired on Zee Action on August 22, she also got a chance to feature with her contemporary Madhuri Dixit.
“Initially, I was quite apprehensive about how would we work together. But before we started shooting, Soumik (director Soumik Sen) called Madhuri and me to his office. We sat and chatted for a couple of hours and for me, that really broke the ice. I told her that it’s really a good script and with us cast together for the first time, this film should go places,” Juhi said.
The actress, who believes in “equality for women and in women empowerment”, is content with the way her career shaped up in Indian films. “When I look back at my career and my life and how much I have learnt, I feel blessed with what I have. I have stopped fighting with myself.
“There is an amazing power getting to know your inner self and learning how to use it and not fight with the world. If you know what makes you happy, your personality, interests and capabilities, just use them and everything else flows beautifully,” she said.
Juhi will next be seen in Chalk n Duster along with Shabana Azmi, Zarina Wahab and Divya Dutta. — IANS
Laura Linney, Tom Hanks
likely to team up for Sully
Actress Laura Linney is in talks to play Tom Hanks’s wife in Sully, Clint Eastwood’s Warner Bros follow-up to American Sniper. This will be Linney’s third teaming with Eastwood after Mystic River and Absolute Power. Aaron Eckhardt will play the co-pilot, reports deadline.com.
The drama is about Captain Chesley Sully Sullenberger, who became an American hero in 2009 when he engineered a miraculous emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River after a flock of geese hit the plane just after it took off from La Guardia Airport.
Linney will next be seen opposite Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, Jude Law and Guy Pearce in the Michael Grandage-directed Genius. — IANS
Small films also deserve
importance, says Bajpayee
Often slotted as an intense and serious artiste, acclaimed actor Manoj Bajpayee is content with the co-existence of all genres in Indian cinema, but says smaller films still need to be granted the importance they deserve.
“The good thing happening nowadays is the co-existence of all kinds of genre in cinema. Whether it is completely commercial, niche or middle of the road, all kind of films are being made and most of them are finding a release. This is a fantastic co-existence,” Manoj said.
He, however, he stressed that the film industry “needs to work little extra on small films.”
“Theatre owners start giving them (smaller) less importance when there is some big film coming, and this shouldn’t happen. We should be in favour of the right of small films too,” added the actor, who has starred in movies like Zubeida and Pinjar as well as ensemble cast movies like Raajneeti, Aarakshan and Gangs Of Wasseypur.
Manoj, who started his career with a television serial Swabhimaan and later went on to do small roles in films like Dastak and Bandit Queen, got his big break in the 1998 crime film Satya. He even won a National Film Award for his role as Bhiku Mhatre.
He was last seen in Tevar and is currently working on his next film titled Traffic, the Hindi adaptation of the eponymous critically acclaimed Malayalam blockbuster. Based on a true life incident of organ donation, the film also features Jimmy Shergill, Bengali superstar Prosenjit, Parambrata, Divya Dutta, Kitu Gidwani and Sachin Khedekar playing pivotal roles.
The film has been directed by Rajesh Pillai, who helmed the original movie in Malayalam. Manoj, who plays a traffic policeman in the film, says it’s a unique thriller.
“It moves through a great speed and that is the quality which made me say ‘yes’ to this. Also, the character is something that people have never seen me playing before,” said the actor, who added that his research for the role was “either available with the director or with Google”.
Apart from his acting projects, Manoj has also co-produced a film titled Missing. Asked if he plans to produce a film in the near furture, he said that these are “hard jobs”.
“It’s a thankless job too. At the end of the day, nobody is thankful of taking really good care of them, so it’s a thankless job. But I enjoyed being part of the production because I like taking responsibilities and I am open about it. I have to wait for another great film,” he added. — IANS
Chris Evans to
star in Gifted
Actor Chris Evans and Marc Webb are both taking a step back from the superhero universe. Evans will star in Webb’s upcoming drama Gifted.
Written by Tom Flynn, the story of the film follows a man who sues for custody of his gifted niece, reports variety.com.
Gifted, Webb’s first film since The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), is expected to start shooting this fall. Webb is also working on The Only Living Boy in New York, starring Miles Teller. Jeff Bridges and Rosamund Pike are in talks to join the project. Evans can next be seen reprising his role as Steve Rogers in Captain America: Civil War. — IANS
TURNING POINT: Juhi Chawla
