In this 'politically incorrect' chat with India Today, Richa Chadha speaks about the success of Masaan, how she doesn't pay attention to critics, how the press in India wants a bad bite, being trolled for her comments on Narendra Modi's Selfie With Daughter initiative and more.
"Man kasturi re...", her caller tune plays, as we wait for Richa Chadha to answer the call. Once she does, we discuss this track from Masaan, telling her how it makes one lose oneself completely in it. "I love this song," comes Richa's response. We ask her about the other song from the film, Tu Rail Si Guzarti Hai, and she says, "That's also a really nice song. I love both that and this."
We move on to discussing roles, her films, and more. She's currently buoyed by the success of Masaan and the critical acclaim that the film has won for the cast and crew, but Chadha is keeping herself on the ground. She tells us how she doesn't bother about either praise or criticism. She is aware of the way 'stars' are treated in this country: while one day people might call Sachin Tendulkar 'God', the other day, they don't spare booing him when he's not able to score a run at the Wankhede in Mumbai. But we'll get there in a while.
The first time we saw you in a full-fledged role, a role which actually made an impact on the audience, was in Gangs of Wasseypur. Your character Naghma Khatoon didn't really flinch while handing her son a weapon and asking him to avenge the deaths of his father and brother. Has that sort of typecast you somewhere, as far as filmmakers are concerned? As in, do they still come to you with the same kind of roles?
But have you seen Masaan? Do you feel I'm being typecast? As for filmmakers, they did come to me with the same kind of roles, but not anymore. That stopped sometime last year.
At the age of 22-23, you had to play a grey-haired Naghma...
I think I was 24. I don't want to lie about my age (laughs)... I turned 24 on the sets.
So, how much do you credit Gangs of Wasseypur for your success now?
A lot, actually. Before that film, the common man didn't know me. The industry also knew that I had done something, but it was very vague. I wasn't getting any work after Oye Lucky Lucky Oye. I do credit Gangs of Wasseypur the most for everything that has happened till now. If that film hadn't come back then or hadn't made money at the box office, life would have been very different, to be honest. I see no reason to not give credit where it's due.
Masaan is quite the opposite of the Richa we've seen in a Gangs of Wasseypur or a Fukrey, for example. You've also said that you were 'written into the role of Devi'. There must have been certain expectations from you, since somebody had you in mind while writing the role. Was it difficult to live up to that?
No... not at all. I know the director (Neeraj Ghaywan) really well. And he knew what I was capable of. So, I'm sure he must have seen something in me; he must have believed that I could make the character believable. Otherwise, it is a really difficult part to play. It's always difficult to take on a film which people think is your 'big deal', and then do justice to it. But I think I managed... and I managed it, thanks to him (Ghaywan). I think actors need to credit that to directors. The way a part is written also makes it what it is. Actually, that's what makes it what it is.
Would you call it a 50-50? Like, half the credit to the performance by the actor, and half to the way the character is written?
I guess, yes... a well-written part is really half the job done.
There was this photo that you'd tweeted - the middle finger from Cannes this year - so, where is the finger currently? Do people still ask you not to work in 'low-budget, arty films'?
No, no. The same people came to the screening of Masaan and said, 'Wow', 'Such good cinema', etc. It's a really fickle place, in that sense. People want to follow a trend. You don't really know... even after Masaan, my supposed fans wrote to me on Twitter and said, "It's really nice, but when are you doing Fukrey 2?" They want to see me in those loud parts. And that can get a bit annoying, you know. Arre, actors need to do everything! Then I understand the pain of the superstars. So what I'm dealing with is really nothing compared to that. It's now that I understand why big actors have that liability. They need to do the certain roles, etc.
That is something that typecasts an actor, no? I mean, if a Salman does something 'hatke' from his image, it's a bit difficult for the masses to digest it, right?
It is difficult. And to be fair to them, it's money riding on them. Huge money. Big films bombing at the box office have had such a bad impact on the industry, in any case. It's only after Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Baahubali to some extent that things got better.
Releasing Masaan just a week after Bajrangi Bhaijaan... of course, the films have different audiences and all...
It is somewhat foolish to assume that Masaan will not have an impact on the audience. It did. It managed box office wise also. Comparing the two films is stupid, as is comparing the liability of the two. Bajrangi needs to make those I-don't-know-how-many-hundred crores. We need to make what, ten crores? Not even that, you know. Therein lies the difference. The liability of this film is so small.
With Cannes now, you've said that you're 'spoilt by the international attention'.
Yes... because they really respect actors. They see actors in a very different way. It is unlike what we see here. Sometimes, I feel like the press here just wants a bad bite. They poke you to say something, and that's it. It happened to me recently, where someone asked me something about the 'Selfie With Daughter' initiative. I said it's sweet, and then they kept on nudging me, and finally it became a headline, and then the trolls got after me on Twitter.
It's so sad that actors don't have the freedom to say what they want to. But any common person can get on Twitter and abuse us left, right and centre, not leave your sisters and mother and father and brothers and upbringing, and get away with it. There was a retired Colonel who called me a prostitute, after reading the 'Selfie With Daughter' misquoted story. And I was like, 'Wow, we're really a classy nation!' A man who's older than my father can just wake up and start saying whatever the hell he wants to, but I cannot. You know, even if I was critical of that (the 'Selfie With Daughter' initiative), are we saying that it's not okay to be critical of the society? I think if the Prime Minister really did know how people, especially women, get harassed on social media platforms for being critical of anything, or even being misquoted, he would put a stop to it.
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