The tragic death of Jiah Khan ended her promising career even before it began. I remember Jiah’s excitement on working with the mighty Amitabh Bachchan in Nishabd Ram Gopal Version take on the Lolita theme.
She called up to tell me Mr Bachchan “smelled so nice” , the perfume he wore apparently made her swoon. “Every man should smell as nice as Mr Bachchan especially if you intend to get intimate with a woman, on or off camera,” she declared to my embarrassment, with all the wisdom of an 18-year old. We laugh about her comments on how good Mr Bachchan smells.
Jiah explains, “If a man smells good he’s a good man. Mr Bachchan thought I was stalking him. He was progressively uncomfortable with the fact that I could identify his perfumes each time. You see when I was 16 I worked at a perfume counter. I think I freaked him out quite a few times. I must tell you about one incident. I remember one day I walked in and he looked at me as though to say, ‘What the hell are you wearing?’. I’ll never forget that look. Did I change? No! It was my character’s clothes. When I met him for the first time he spoke a lot because I was so nervous. He made me feel very comfortable. After that he became the character. He wasn’t Mr Bachchan . If he remained that I wouldn’t have been able to emote properly.”
Gushed Jiah, “Even my French and Italian friends know about Mr Bachchan. And they are shell-shocked. My friends always knew I was going to do something special. But a film with Mr Bachchan? I never dreamt of it. If I look confident on screen the credit goes to Mr Bachchan and RGV. When I came down here I had no idea of how to go about it. When I had such a seasoned actor before me there was no way I could go wrong.”
What did it feel like sharing intimate moments with such a seasoned stalwart? “There were no inhibitions. It was because of the training at Lee Strasberg’s acting school where I was told to completely leave aside my inhibitions and pick from emotions that I’ve experienced in the past. The first thing I learnt at acting school was to loose my inhibitions. And Mr Bachchan was so professional. RGV helped me a lot to understand the so-called taboo relationship. In any case relationships between very young girls and older men aren’t so taboo. They happen in villages where we’ve child marriages. In high society older men often go out with young women. So what’s the big deal? It’s because the older man is played by Mr Bachchan the relationship seems so forbidden. As for me, if I got into a relationship like the one in Nishabd I’d behave exactly like my character.”
What made Jiah seek such a role? “I think the role of a very young girl’s relationship with an older man sought me out. You won’t believe this, but from the age of 16 I’ve been offered such a role three times. But I wouldn’t like to make a career of unconventional films. I’ve grown up watching masala films. I fell in love with RGV’s Rangeela at the age of 13. Though I lived in London I only wore salwar-kameez. And I’d speak only in Hindi in school, never in English. I find people in India are far more westernized than I am. Eventhough I grew up in London, and I do have an accent I’m very Indian. The first thought that came to me was, I want to do commercial cinema. I was so obsessed with Bollywood. So yeah, I did want to be a commercial actress. But let me say one thing. Nishabd is a very commercial film.”
Jiah doesn’t mind being unconventional, though within boundaries. “To a certain extent my upbringing where there was no man in the house, just my mom , my two sisters and me, does impose certain restrictions on my behaviour. But no, I’m not the bread-earner of my family, please! If that was the case my family wouldn’t be eating anything.”
About her thick accent Jiah says, “In Nishabd, I play a girl who’s from abroad I dubbed the whole film myself. “
Jiah’s mom and sisters keep visiting in Mumbai. “You know I don’t mind living alone. I’m here to work. So whether I’m sleeping next to my mother or to a ghost in the night, doesn’t matter so much to me.”
Tell her any co-star after Mr Bachchan would be comedown. And Jiah exclaims, “Oh stop it! Why is everyone saying this? Let me enjoy the moment.”
