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Of many shades
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Divya Dutta speaks about her new films You, Me aur Hum and Gudiya Ki Kahani
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Not just a doll Divya Dutta doesn’t want to be slotted as a supporting actor
Divya Dutta is probably the most remembered face among supporting actors in Hindi films. Though she got critical acclaim for “A Train to Pakistan” and “Sur”, it was “Veer Zara” that placed her among the most sought after support actors. Even Ajay Devgan banked on her for his “U, Me Aur Hum”, and Prabhakar Shukla has cast her in the title role in “Gudiya Ki Kahani”.
She says, “I am no longer accepting supporting roles. Moreover, why pinpoint me for doing supporting roles Bipasha Basu and Konkona Sen are also doing it? The heroine is not only about dancing around the hero. She is one among many characters in one story.”
In “U, Me Aur Hum” Divya plays an unhappily married girl. She fights with her husband (Sumit Raghavan). I am so happy that I got to play so many emotions in one role — from a chirpy girl to a spoilt brat, a dancer to an emotional fool.”
Divya admits the role has helped her understand issues often ignored. “Half the marriages break up because the couples keep fighting on frivolous issues and sideline the vital ones.”
As for “Gudiya Ki Kahani”, it is based on the tragic story that hit the headlines in recent times, of Gudiya, whose husband was a prisoner of war but presumed dead and returned after she had remarried and was pregnant. The gudiya in the film too is forced to choose between the two husbands. Dutta plays the title role. “This film was completed when Gudiya was pregnant. I couldn’t even meet her. The film got stuck because of differences between producer and distributors,” she shares.
Disagreeing that the film capitalises on someone’s personal tragedy, she says she feels lucky to have played a real life character.
“We have this habit of extracting negative shades out of a worthy issue. I feel proud to play Gudiya because it will help many people understand a woman’s heart. I feel indebted to God to be in a profession where I can express myself, while a girl like Gudiya can’t even express herself! How she coped with a double tragedy, what was her state of mind, how perplexed she felt when she had to choose needed to be told. If no one understood her, this film will make them understand.”
Calling the effort “emotionally draining”, Divya remarks, “I feel extremely sad that Gudiya will never see it.”
Shot mostly in Mumbai, the film uses Awadhi dialects. Her two husbands are played by R.S. Sarkaria (POW) and Rajpal Yadav (second husband).
With 10 films in hand — among them Shyam Benegal’s “Mahadev”, Rakeysh Mehra’s “Dilli 6”, Subhash Ghai’s “Hello Zindagi”, Kushan Bhatnagar’s “Monica”, and “Love Khichdi” with Randeep Hooda — she is also set to hit the television screen with Jaspal Bhatti as a judge for a reality show, “Comedy Ka King Kaun”. She concludes with a tinge of pride, “I have to please myself, not others.”
The supporting actor tag seems to rankle. “That I am working with a range of great filmmakers is enough to make critics understand my calibre.”
R.S.
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