Alia stunned to see a film on loneliness

Sharing her experience of watching her mother Soni Razdan's film ‘Your's Truly’, actress Alia Bhatt on Sunday said she was stunned to see the film dealing with 'loneliness'. "I want to thank Sanjay (Nag -- the director) for taking my mom in this film because it is important to tell different kinds of stories. The subject of loneliness is a sensitive topic taken in a light way, which is so prevalent in all our lives. I was totally stunned to see how my mother played the role," Alia said addressing a media conference on the film at the 24th Kolkata International Film Festival in Kolkatta.

Nag, whose debut feature film ‘Memories in March’ won the National Film Award in 2011, directed the movie ‘Your's Truly’ about the loneliness of a 57-year-old working woman Mithi Kumar (played by Soni Razdan). Aahana Kumara, Pankaj Tripathi, Tapati Munshi and Mahesh Bhatt are also a part of the film.
The interesting part of the 84-minute long non-conventional film is the protagonist falls in love with the voice of the station-announcer. She writes letters to a person whom she has never met. Asked why she agreed to do the film, Razdan said: "The first thing was greed as I was the protagonist (smiles). Actually, it was the theme of this woman living alone. She is lonely but not indulging in it, which is very much like me."

"I have been incredibly lonely but I love my loneliness. Even today, I love my solitude. So I connected with the character who is lonely but she nurtures a romantic core within herself," Razdan said. Nag said it was a learning experience to shoot at the crowded Howrah station: "We shot the film in about 12 days and it was possible with the help of these lovely people and others involved." Razdan said it was a privilege for her to work in the film because it was shot in Kolkata. During the shoot, she kept gorging on the local sweet delicacy 'Sandesh' after lunch. She recalled that her first film ‘36 Chowringhee Lane’ was shot in Kolkata.

"My only regret is that my role was not long and I could not stay at the beautiful Fairlawn hotel for a longer time. About Kolkata, I love the fact that past and present co-exist beautifully. They don't let go of their Heritage and how they take pride in their city and its past." Mentioning that she has the ability to detach herself while watching her parents, Alia said: "As a part of the audience, I love watching her on-screen as she is so natural. I have learnt a lot from her seeing this film.”