Geetika, who plays a cop again after the acclaimed Soni, on how her spirited character is integral to Tera Kya Hoga Lovely
The actor plays a fiery cop alongside Randeep Hooda
How can one’s physical appearance determine their worth? It’s this thought that made Geetika Vidya Ohlyan give her nod to Tera Kya Hoga Lovely. Telling the story of Ileana D’Cruz’s character who is turned down by prospective grooms because of her dusky skin, Balwinder Singh Janjua’s directorial venture questions society’s bias towards fair skin and the issue of dowry system. “It’s not limited to skin colour; people even talk about your weight. The film isn’t a boring lecture about a cause, nor is it a slapstick comedy. In the guise of comedy, it promotes progress,” says Ohlyan.
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Most remember her from the gritty cop drama, Soni (2018). This time, the actor slips into the khaki uniform again, playing a colleague to leading man Randeep Hooda. “I had said police wala role ho gaya, ab kuch aur karna hai,” she recalls, but the character of Chandrawal was too tempting to turn down. “From Delhi Crime to Kathal [2023] to Dahaad [2023], there are many women in khaki. Chandrawal has agency, doesn’t respect rules, and is free-spirited. Taking her out of this movie is like taking Circuit out from Munna Bhai. My friends kept asking me, are you playing Lovely? I told them I’m playing something lovelier. What made me say yes is that the role could have been written for a man, but it’s written for a woman. Her husband loves her and cooks for her while she works. She takes him out for dinner. It’s sweet and progressive.”
After the pandemic, the actor is consciously choosing stories of hope. It’s her way of looking for sunshine in this bleak world. She explains, “The world around us is in shatters. I don’t have a choice where the bombs are being dropped in the world, but I can choose stories that heal.”