I’m very aggressive:Sushmita
The Malayalam maverick Mohanlal has a new fan. “I’ve stood in the same frame as Mohanlal.I’m honoured. To watch him perform is to watch a whole textbook on Indian cinema unfold in front of your eyes. He’s THAT brilliant.”
Keeping still was the big challenge for Sushmita in Sholay. For an individual who’s as restless in spirit and body as Sushmita Sen, the deathly stillness of her character in Ram Gopal Varma’s Sholay was a revelation.
“I virtually had to tie myself down. It’s not that I don’t speak in Sholay. But I say whatever I’ve to through my eyes.I’ve more still moments in this film than in any other cinema that I’ve done. It’s the quietest character I’ve ever played.
It’s not that my character Durga doesn’t speak. It’s that inner tranquility. And hats of to Ramu for signing someone with a strong image like me to play someone like Durga…It requires guts and hindsight. Ramu has both.”
Sushmita rewinds to Jaya Bachchan who played Radha in Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay. “It was one of the most difficult roles in Sholay. Jayaji was fabulous. Very few people in our cinema understand the sounds of silences. But let me tell you, she played Radha. I play Durga. She was very passive. I’m very aggressive.”
Sushmita is all praise for her Sholay co-star Prashant Raj. “He’s very good. In his very first film he has to stand next to stalwarts like Amitabh Bachchan, Mohanlal and Ajay Devgan. That isn’t easy. ”
Tell her she has a head-start of at least seven years over of her Sholay co-star, and Sushmita laughs, “Trust me he looks really nice with me.”
Sushmita has no scenes with Mr Bachchan in Sholay. “Not this time. But we had lots of scenes together in the two films we did earlier Hindustan Ki Kasam and Aankhen. In Sholay we don’t come face-to-face at all.”