We’ve not seen much of Bhagyashree for nearly 20 years since she starred opposite Salman Khan in Maine Pyar Kiya, but now after starring in many films in the south, Bhagyashree is back.
Did she enjoy her time there? ”Down South, I got meatier roles.” She explains, “I did a film with four criminals who were let out of the jail to take part in the film. I was really scared to face a person who had murdered 48 people. Experiences like these mean a lot to me.”
Bhagyashree is the daughter of the former Maharaja of Sangli. She concentrated on TV serials in the 1990s but returned to movies with Maa Santoshi Maa in 2003 and was recently seen in Janani. What does she look for in a script? “Essentially it should give me a chance to link myself with the audience,” she said. “It should give me a chance where the performance stands out from the script as a whole. It could even be a 10-minute role but it should have some potential that the audience can relate to.”
Now she’s about to star opposite Suniel Shetty in a movie about the Naxalite problem, the Naxalites are an underground group of Maoist-inspired revolutionaries who operate mainly in Bengal and the east of India. Does she understand the thinking behind their position? “I know exactly why Naxals feel the way they do,” she says. “And also what people think about them. This film deals with the issue of why people get into it and more. It talks about how Suniel’s character runs into the Naxal group. The only reason he comes out of it is his family and the emotional bond he shares with his wife.” This looks like a movie that could be well worth making a trip to see.
