Ila Arun is playing a third-gender character for the first time in the Zee5 film Haddi but insists that it is co-actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui who deserves the entire spotlight.
Haddi, the title of the film, is quite hard-hitting.
Jo bhi hai, Haddi says it all. The film is all about transgenders. It is an emotional film.
What was your reaction when the script came to you?
He (Akshay Ajat Sharma) is a first-time director. He was deeply involved with Anurag Kashyap, as his first AD (assistant director). So it was evident that his storytelling would be action oriented. Revenge drama was on his mind, as also the exploitation of a weaker section. He spoke to me at length about my role. Amma’s role is quite layered; it has both a hard and a soft side and she is important to Nawaz. Her relationship with Nawaz is different. I had to act as a transgender myself. Yeh role toh pehle hum kiya nahin, karib se in logon ko dekha bhi nahin. I also had to act with real transgender actors. It was challenging. There was no reason to say no to such a role.
How is Amma as a person?
In their groups, a motherly figure is chosen as their leader, someone who looks after everyone. Unko aap don keh lein, ya leader keh lein... Everyone comes from different places as offsprings are not possible in their clan. Their areas are clearly demarcated. If anyone encroaches upon her clan’s area, the leader has to deal with that. So there is power involved. She also has to handle the members emotionally, observe their rituals...
Is the story set in any particular city?
It is a border area, but the place is not named. We shot on the Delhi-UP border. Two or three transgender actors were from Bengal. One was Ivanka (Das), a beautiful transgender, who had acted in Ghoomar and other films. Another was from Delhi. Emotionally they want to change their gender, which is common in India now. How well that has been dealt with has to be seen in the film.
Has Bollywood come a long way in its portrayal of transgenders?
Pooja Bhatt made a film (Tamanna, directed by Mahesh Bhatt). Aur Kalpana (Lajmi) ne banayi thi Darmiyaan. Other than these two films, as characters, they were portrayed in a frivolous way in most mainstream films. Abhi hum log open ho gaye hain. There are approved artistes in every field. In our film, one actor is actually a doctor. Earlier, if you were a transgender you were not given an education or a mainstream job. Bas (traffic) signal pe taali bajao. That has stopped. But I must laud OTTs for portraying transgenders with a lot of truth. This is good not only for the transgender community but also for society. They have no taboos. They just want to see good content, addressing different aspects of society. The audience too wants to see new problems, new stories. In that respect, Haddi is an important film.
To pick up the body language of transgenders, did you have to train or do a workshop?
More than me, it is Nawaz’s film. Nawaz has become a transgender in the film, who will show the entire process. Uss ka bolna, chalna, uthna... I watched him closely. Hats off to him. The writer had made a documentary. We did not need to do any individual research, there was so much material. There were also 20-25 transgenders who were part of the cast and they were not even aware that they were in a film. They were not junior actors posing as transgenders. Some faced the camera, some did not. They were present at the rituals and other shots. Those with acting capabilities were approved actors.
You have acted before with Nawazuddin in Raat Akeli Hai, Ghoomketu, Manto…. How do you see his journey?
He is a brilliant actor. When he was doing Manto, it used to seem like he is Manto. Itna kareeb se woh Manto ko dekha aur parha. He has done enough plays as a theatre artiste. When he was acting as a cop in Raat Akeli Hai, he was completely a cop. In Ghoomketu, he was an aspiring writer from a village and I was his lovable bua, like a mother. I have played his mother three times. He is so sincere and intense.
When did you shoot Haddi?
Last year. My last shot was on August 28.
It’s been 30 years of Khalnayak.
Yes, Subhas ji (Ghai) will hold a celebration at a theatre in Malad (in Mumbai). It’s also 40 years of my theatre group Surnai Theatre and Folk Arts Foundation. Bengalis are too much into theatre and good cinema. Mrinal (Sen) da se mera bahut karib rishta tha. This is a proud moment for me as I started off alone with only K.K. Raina, Vijay Kashyap from NSD (National School of Drama), Virendra Razdan… we really did theatre of our choice.
What has been the impact of that film and the song Choli ke peeche on your career?
Because of Khalnayak, I could do hazaaron live shows. I even did a live show at NCPA in end-July. I performed Choli, singing and dancing with 20 girls. It is not easy to dance to it as the orchestration is very fast. Choli was well-written by Anand Bakshiji and well-choreographed by Saroj Khan ji. Both are gone. (Composers) Laxmikant ji is also gone but Pyare(lal) bhai is there. It was well-acted by Madhuri (Dixit) and directed and produced by Subhas ji. Choli has always been a part of my live shows.
But there were a lot of controversies when it was released.
Aur sari buraiyaan mujhe mili kyun ki main ne itna zor se gaya! But I enjoyed the song as it is so musical. I enjoy the song. I always say this musical choli is meant for all sizes and all ages of women. When it is played, you cannot help but dance.
We remember seeing you perform the song with Madhuri Dixit at Salt Lake Stadium.
Correct. There were one lakh people in the stadium. Bahut log aaye the. Madhuri is a fantastic dancer and did full justice to Saroj ji. Bappi da mujhe le ke aye the. I sang the maximum number of songs for Bappi da. I miss him.
You seem to know Calcutta well. You were mentioning Ballygunge.
Yes, number 6 or 9 where we ate, jahan khana bahut achchha milta hai.
6 Ballygunge Place?
Yes, I am dying to come. Then there is one Kala place where I do plays sometimes.
Kala Mandir?
Haan. I miss Calcutta a lot. I love Bengalis. Unka sochna, unka khana... Nitish Roy was our friend. Munna, that is Nandita Roy, who is making films now with Shibu (Shiboprosad Mukherjee), meri bahut achchhi dost hai. She has taught me how to eat fish — machhli ki ek ek kaate ko nikalke khana sikhaye. Arun Lal is like a brother to me. He is a dear friend of Piyush, my brother. They used to play cricket together. I have done Srijit (Mukherji)’s film also — Begum Jaan. We shot near Santiniketan. What a treat it was to be there! I used to go over a lot to Rabindranath (Tagore) ji’s institution. Our shoot was on the Jharkhand-Bengal border, about an hour and a half away. I bought many cotton saris from the haat jahan baul log gaate hai. Durga Puja is approaching. I wish I could come this time.
Sudeshna Banerjee