Anshuman Jha talks with Subhash K Jha about his experience working on Dibakar Banerjee’s Love Sex Aur Dhokha as it celebrates 15 years since it was first released. The actor featured in the first story, titled ‘Superhit Pyaar,’ hits you in the solar plexus when the rich girl Shruti (Nushrratt Bharuccha) and her newly-married husband Rahul (Anshuman Jha) are taken to a desolate highway and well (spoilers ahead)… Love doesn’t just hurt — it hacks. Nothing that has come before prepares us for the savagery of the dying moments.
Looking back, how do you feel about fifteen years of Love Sex Aur Dhokha?
Just gratitude for having begun my journey as an actor with such an auteur that is Dibakar Banerjee and a wonderful team headed by producer extraordinaire Ekta. And in my birthday week. Firsts are always special, and LSD, the film, is a cult that has stood the test of time and given us wings to fly as artists. The process of learning and the making stays with me a lot more. We are but products of our time, and I wonder if a film like LSD can be made today with the freedom that it was done in 2010.
What was Dibakar Banerjee like as a director?
It was dream to debut with Dibakar and my character had layers which got me excited. My “Rahul” was a homage to the Yash Raj inspired film world and I had was thrilled I had the line “Bade Bade Shehron Ki choti choti buses mein aisa hota rehta hai“.
You come from a Brahmin family. Was it hard playing a caste-challenged character?
The fact that it was a caste-challenged character made it more accessible to me because I have always been a little awkward and shy in real life. In fact, Dibakar said in an interview that he found my awkwardness endearing.
How did you land the role?
I was doing a Girish Karnad play called Bali and rehearsing in the same space where the LSD auditions were going on. I sent my pictures to Atul Mongia, and he didn’t get them at first. I checked a week later and re-sent the pictures. I auditioned, got shortlisted, re-auditioned, and got the part. After that, I had to test with all the shortlisted girls. Fun fact?
Tell me?
Amrita Puri was finalised for the lead girl, but because she was signed for another film, Ayesha, she couldn’t do the film. And Nushrat Bharucha came in.
How deeply affected were you by the brutal climax?
My death scene was my favourite in the film. And I was looking forward to it since I read the screenplay. Death is a part of life, but we never get to see it and observe it from the outside in real, in the movies, as actors, we have the privilege of experiencing it somewhat. Dibakar came to my van on the day of the shoot of that scene and showed me a lot of paper clips about honour killings. I didn’t quite understand what he was doing back then, but he got me in the mood subconsciously. He is an auteur and it has been an honour to start my career with him.
