Anjali Patil talks about her character in Mere Pyare Prime Minister

Om Kanojiya and Anjali Patil in Mere Pyare Prime Minister

A year after he told Anjali Patil that they have "more work to do together" when wrapping up the shoot of Mirziya (2016), Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra took the script of his passion-project, Mere Pyare Prime Minister, to the National Award-winning actor. "He crafted my character with a lot of detail," says Patil, who plays the role of a single mother, a slum resident who is raped when she goes to relive herself in the open.

Talking about her role, a single mother to a young boy (played by Om Kanojiya), Patil says, "My character's back-story is traced to Kutch, where she becomes pregnant. The [lover] runs away, so she decides to raise the kid alone. She turns up in Mumbai and becomes a strong, single mother. I was told that despite living in the slums, and belonging to the lower income group, this mother would not refrain from celebrating her beauty, or her life."

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

While Mehra had lived in the slums for 15 days to understand the world he was set to create, Patil says her prep work began when she headed for the recce with the unit. "I noticed the women, and the way they lived. I was apprehensive about [invading their space]. That's when Rakeysh sir told me that the film would not focus on their struggle. Even though they struggle, they don't lament about it."

Winning critical acclaim ever since she took to acting as a performing arts student, Patil says she's inundated with questions pertaining to her process as an actor. "The truth is, the process is always ongoing. I'm constantly observing how people walk, or behave." Interspersing her film commitments with periods of "blackout", where she disconnects from social media and her circle of friends, Patil says she uses experiences to enhance her craft.

"I take to a minimalist kind of living. I don't live in cities anymore because they don't help me evolve. I head to smaller places, like a village, coastal side or mountain, and take up a skill or an art form. On my last venture, I went to Cambodia, and before that I took off for Goa, where I learnt contact improvisation for three months."

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