Richa Chadha: It was always on my wish list to work with Sudhir Mishra

Richa Chadha

Richa Chadha

We have seen several versions of Devdas in the Hindi cinema and the talented Sudhir Mishra has brought the yet-another version of Devdas to his audience, titled Daas Dev. This role reversal political thriller is a spine-chilling twist given to the classic version. With Rahul Bhatt essaying Dev's character, Richa Chadha as the contemporary Paro and Aditi Rao Hydari as Chandramukhi, the film looks promising. After giving some phenomenal films like, Chameli, Inkaar and others, Daas Dev is one to watch out for, say industry insiders, Shekhar Gupta, Kabir Bedi and others, who have seen the film. With a tete-e-tete with mid-day online, Richa and Rahul speak about their experience working in this upgraded version of the film and with the millennial - Sudhir Mishra

Excerpts from the interview:

What kind of responses are you receiving from the industry insiders for the film Daas Dev?
Directors like Shekhar Gupta, Kiran Anshuman, Kabir Bedi and many such scions from the film industry have loved the film. They've said that this is one of Sudhir Mishra's best films with brilliant performances by the star cast. I am very excited after receiving such reviews.

How was your experience working with Sudhir sir? In what does he enhance his actor's performance?
Sudhir Mishra sir is a very talented filmmaker and is a legend in this country. He has been in this industry for past 35 years and it's tough to survive in this industry for so long. There are filmmakers out there, who make a certain kind of cinema, which gets repetitive and in the process, they lose out on the respect they received earlier. That's because their minds get diverted to different aspects like the budget of the film...It's not that Sudhir Mishra cannot deliver a 100 crore film. He will make and make a good film. But again, he has never compromised with his quality of work. The kind of person he is, he hasn't compromised with that. It was always on my wish list to work with Sudhir sir or as Rahul (Bhatt) says, 'Actor ka dhakkan khul jata hai Sudhir ke sath kaam kar ke' (Sudhir Sir brings out the inner talent from the actor) and the same happened with me.

We've seen different versions of Devdas and now we have another version, Daas Dev. How is this role reversal different from the earlier Devdas'?
Rahul: I've given my 100 percent to this character and Sudhir sir has written a very difficult character. Dev's character is the same but his journey is different. The previous versions have shown how Devdas is a 'daas' and at the end also is a 'daas', meaning, he's always under the influence of alcohol and ends his life due to the addiction. That Dev is a loser's story, Daas Dev has been twisted a bit. Even he is an alcoholic, drug addict and suddenly, one day, his childhood lover, Paro tells him to handle his legacy. I'm a big fan of Dev saab, Dilip Kumar, and Shah Rukh Khan. But when you go to see these films, the audience wants to see them, the celebrity. In my film, you won't come to see Rahul Bhatt, you'll come to see Dev, and I promise that my audience will find the Dev in me.

We have seen many shades of Paro, with Richa it won't be conventional. So, what new will this Paro get on the table?
I will get something really different on the table. But that genius has come from the writers because they wrote the character of Paro, who becomes a rebel and stands opposite Dev in an election. This is unheard of in the classical versions of the novel or the films. I think this is a really interesting time to be doing this. On one hand the whole country is so politicised and politically charged. Everybody is following the news, even on social media, there are lots of anti-establishment sentiment that the country is following at the moment. People are waiting for a change, they are getting into space where they want something revolutionary to happen. At the same time, there's a strong talk of feminism, a theme of feminism in films, arts, news, in everything we are seeing, and not all of it is good. There's a lot of bifurcation and lots of binaries in discussion and disperse, which are downright disgusting. But at this time, this film to release is very exciting for me. I think it just worked out for the best.

Richa talks about her character, Paro.
The writing of this character and the coming out of this character at a time like this, and the character that you previously associated with being in a big cart, in a big mansion, married to an older guy, lighting diyas, using sacrifice as a virtue. Yes, she accepts Dev, is faithful to him, loves him. She also accepts his addictions and his flaws but she just tells him, 'I love you but don't say anything else because I will leave you and lead my own life. At the bottom of my heart that love will always remain.'

Was it tasking to get into the characters and then get out of them because when you are shooting, you transform yourself into that particular character for the most part of the days?
It's not so difficult, especially not for this film because I don't do method acting. I find that very taxing. I completely enjoyed playing this character, who, is so gutsy and is truly standing up against something. We have to understand the context. If I am growing up in a small town India, I'm doing social work in the village, for me to stand up for patriarchy at my own level is a much bigger deal than somebody, who has gone to a posh school and college, it's very easy for me to speak about feminism because I have the privilege. But, for a character like this to stand up for something like this is very rare.

It's very commendable to see you choose such challenging and offbeat roles, out of which you come out with flying colours. On what basis do you give your nod to a film?
I feel that there shouldn't be a filter between me and the people I interact with. I have tried to put my most honest version out there to the world. Some people like it, some people don't and it's fine. I love my work and that's why I moved away from my family and comfortable life in Delhi to be here, to struggle, to work hard every single day, to make lots of sacrifices. For instance, sleep early, not eat cake (laughs). Then, I feel that if we are investing so much of efforts; at least let's make it worth it.

Also Read: Aditi Rao Hydari Keeps Her Distance Daas Dev Promotion

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