Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil were Richa Chadha's inspiration for Love Sonia

Richa Chadha

Actress Richa Chadha, who has been breaking barriers for doing unconventional roles right from her first film, is at it again. The actress is now currently geared up for her next release, Tabrez Noorani's Love Sonia. The film has been well received at all international festivals where it was screened and is slated to release in India on 14th September. The film touches on a very sensitive subject, the international crisis of sex trafficking.

Though many renowned Bollywood actors have played the role of a commercial sex worker in films it is never easy to play such a part. One of the best films to have been made on the subject was 1983' satirical comedy on politics and prostitution called 'Mandi' by ace filmmaker Shyam Benegal. The film starred Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Saeed Jaffrey, Neena Gupta amongst many others. It was extremely different to the Bollywood films of the times that treated sex workers either as victims or villains and constantly acknowledging them as the 'other.' Every little detail was taken into consideration.

All the female actors performed to the best of their abilities and it is considered as some of their finest work till date. The makers of Mandi constructed a set of a brothel back then, where the typical diction, accent, language, attire and body language were portrayed by all the actors.

Richa watched the film Mandi a number of times to pick up diction, body language and clothing tips to get into the skin of her character Madhuri. Shabana Azmi played the role of brother owner in Mandi, Richa taking the cue from Shabana's role prepared herself to play the part.

Also Read: Richa Chadha: Took Therapy Sessions To Recover From Role In Love Sonia

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