Up close with the Pink stars

The afternoon session at the ‘Indywood Film Carnival’ was a fine example of women power, when an all-women panel took to stage to discuss the representation of the gender in the industry. When speaking of the issue, the current rage is the Bollywood movie, ‘Pink’, which was a fine example of strong women who were not afraid to voice their opinion.

Actresses from the movie, Andrea Tariang and Kriti Kulhari were part of the panel. And, rightly so. The cast of the movie has set an example for the film industry about how women need to be represented in movies. On the sidelines of the event, the actresses had a brief tête-à-tête with The Hans India about the journey post ‘Pink’.

“The film took an emotional toll on us. We had to take a break for a month to get out of it and unwind ourselves,” shares Andrea. The debutante actress is a musician. When she got the offer for the film she was thrilled by it. “The feeling is still sinking in (laughs)”, she says. She is not a trained actress and she attended acting workshops before the shoot. “I did workshops for about three months before the commencement of the principal photography. Anyway, I had to be myself in the film so there was not much to put in it,” she says.

Facing the camera for the first time gives jitters to many and Andrea was not an exception. “I was extremely nervous! But then I got over it soon because everyone was making me feel comfortable and I was fine with it,” says the actress. About working with Amitabh Bachchan on her debut film she says, “Working with him, for me, was little intimidating for me. It’s just the way he looks at you.

His eyes have so much intensity that it scared me sometimes (laughs). In the court scene, when he was looking at me and questioning me, you will notice that I was not looking at him but looking down. That was not “acting”. That was all me!” she laughs.

Why ‘Pink’?
“When we were reading the script and doing the workshops, we were all struggling with the title,” shares Kriti. “We were thinking what we will call such a film. We didn’t want to give such a name that had “full” woman power. So one day before the shoot I came to know that they finalised the name as ‘Pink’. I was personally very thrilled,” she shares.

“Generally pink is associated with women but, on softer tones like love and care but our film ‘Pink’ redefines it. It adds the biggest aspect of women, which is “Shakti” (power). Through the film, now the colour is a symbol of strength and courage,” says Kriti.

For Kirti the most challenging and difficult scene was the court scene in which she “agrees” to taking the money in exchange for sex. “It was the twist of the story. And it was almost a 12-13 pager scene,” she informs. “We used to do a lot of rehearsals before the shot and then we just did it in one take. In the whole film, we tried not to over dramatise it.

This scene, personally, was super tough for me because I did not know how I would have played it. I had done my preparations but how it would eventually turn out with the requisite impact and intensity was the biggest challenge,” says the actress.

“As an actor, I don’t do method acting. I know this is the character and this is me. But having said that, during the shoot I did not sleep well. There was so much to do and every scene and shot were so crucial that it keep playing in my mind. It was exhausting but, it also changed me as a person,” reveals Kriti. “Post ‘Pink’, I am accepting myself as who I am - being a woman, of my own sexuality and being confident about it,” Kirti signs off.

By Navin Pivhal