From the first poster of Vidya Balan as Begum Jaan, we had a feeling that this was going to be something special. Then the trailer released and we knew we were right. This fierce avatar of Vidya Balan had arrived and we could not wait to see her character’s story come alive onscreen. Directed by Srijit Mukherji, the film sees Vidya play a madam of a brothel, a tigress, who protects and fights for her home and her pack during the Partition.
See what we mean?
In this in-depth conversation with Stacey, the brilliant Vidya shares what it was like to play this role, the challenges and the joys, and why she feels that there is a Begum Jaan in every woman.
You have told me earlier that you go by instinct when choosing your roles, what was it about this that you knew this was a film I have to do?
You know, I think it is the power of Begum Jaan that really drew me to her. It’s her attitude, it’s her never say die attitude, it’s her love for herself (laughs), she has almost consummated herself. She cares two hoots about authority or about anything else. I think that’s what grabbed me. Begum Jaan was irresistible to me.
You completely changed everything about yourself, even your voice, I mean when I saw the trailer I was like ‘Okay, Whoa!’ What went into changing your voice, changing the completeness of you?
Begum Jaan exudes power. The body language, the voice, all of that has to reflect that or rather has to exude that power. I remember I sat with Srijit, now this was during our preparation for the film – on one particular day we had an early morning session and early mornings by my standards is like 9…10 am. (Laughs) When he came home and I began to read out the lines to him and he said, ‘Oh My God, that is Begum Jaan’s voice!’ I was like “What?!?” He said, ‘Yeah I want this voice for Begum Jaan’ and I said, ‘This is my early morning voice.’ ‘Then that’s how we are going to dub the film. I want you to use this voice.’ So I dubbed the film early morning, at 9-10 o’clock every morning because he wanted that grain of voice. It wasn’t a conscious choice or about changing anything. I think it is very important that one uses the tools at your disposal which is makeup, hair, costume, voice, diction, gait, all of that to create a person. Here it seemed to me like I had to do something that was completely out of my comfort zone because I have never played this kind of character who is so unabashedly powerful. I think that’s why the body language, the voice and all of that came into play. It was just because I had to convey that, her power through everything – through my very being.
I know you have gotten a lot of questions about playing a madam, but it really is just about this woman, not that it is such a bold role. It is just who she is – would you agree?
Yes. I think she knows she can’t be slut-shamed – that’s what I love about her. Of course no one becomes a prostitute by choice. She is led there by circumstances obviously and today she has progressed within that system to be the madam of a brothel. But she is unapologetic. So it is finally about a woman. Normally when we look at prostitutes we look at them with some amount of pity. We all feel like they are victims within the framework of the society. But Begum Jaan doesn’t look at herself as a victim. She looks at herself as a heroine. She’s the leader of the pack. She is a tigress. So finally why it is about a woman? I think for the first time you see someone who is not apologetic about trading pleasure.
It is very interesting because she is leader of the pack within the brothel but then she has to go on and protect her girls. Was it difficult to go through that journey with her?
Like I said she is consummate in herself. She is here to protect her domain. Obviously she has not been able to protect her most intimate place, which is her body, which has been abused over the years. But she has now become that person who will protect the physical place that is home for her. So that’s been the only constant, her source of security. If I have think about it psychologically she feels like that in the film. But why does anyone guard their space? Why are there wars? Because our space, our home gives us a sense of security. So she will fight for it tooth and nail. And then, she is ready to fight this battle alone. The girls have never seen this kind of freedom even, in their own houses, which is why they stand by her and they all put up a fight together. Literally united they stand. So I don’t think it was difficult, but it was demanding for sure. Especially as we reached towards the final act – that kind of resolve was demanding physically, mentally, emotionally, in every way.
How did draw upon yourself and get into that very intense and angry mode she is in? What did you do to get there?
I think, Stacey, I harnessed all the anger I’ve felt in my life for this film. Anger I felt as a girl, anger I felt just as a human being when you see things around you or when you go through life. I’ve never been comfortable with expressing anger, giving a voice to my anger. So I harnessed all of that for this film.
That must have been draining at the end of the day…
It was draining, but it was also very freeing because I could finally give vent to all that was pent up in me.
Photo credit: Rohan Shrestha
You also had to slap some of the girls, pull them by their hair, which I imagine for you, was really, really hard…
Yes, that was very, very difficult because violence is something that I really can’t bear and I had to slap, I had to drag, I had to kick. Oh My God so difficult. There were times when I said Oh My God do I really have to do this? Did I really sign up for this? Of course, I signed up for this. That was really tough.
How was it to work with the other actresses because from what I have seen they really looked up to you?
It was wonderful. I’ve not had so much feminine energy around me on set ever. The give and take was very non-threatening for all of us, I think. It was a very tough, grueling schedule because the weather was almost schizophrenic. It was 45-46 degrees, the lands were very arid, therefore that made it that much tougher or there would be rain or there’d be a storm and the humidity would then go through the roof. So it was very, very draining physically. The best part I think is that women are that much more transparent emotionally. There were times when someone was feeling home sick, or someone was feeling sick, someone was PMS’ing, but I think we all sailed through it because we all supported each other. I think it was this shared experience that really binded us.
So you lip-synched to an Asha Bhosle song, tell us about preparing to do that and then seeing the result, seeing her voice come out of you – that must have been amazing.
You know, I’ve always dreamt of a day when Asha Bhosle would sing for me. But for about 8 years now she hasn’t sung for any film. She is 83, God bless her. I couldn’t believe it when the director told me that she actually is going to sing a song that I am going to lip sync to because I think she is one of the most versatile singers. Some of her songs are amongst my favourites; I practice in front of the mirror to a lot of her songs. So it was just surreal. It was wonderful. She’s sung it so beautifully. It’s a very romantic song. It’s a lovelorn song with beautiful lyrics. So I just enjoyed it, I soaked in it. I made the best of that moment, that opportunity. It was a dream come true.
To put the emotion in lip syncing a song – is that difficult? Because even if you are not singing it you still have to have that emotion come through…
It is difficult, but I enjoy music. I sing along. I am not a good singer, but I sing along. I enjoy it. I’ve not had too many opportunities because these days we don’t to many lip-sync songs. I actually miss that in films. So I am glad I got this chance.
On one of the behind the scenes videos you said that there is a Begum Jaan in every woman, can you explain that.
I think we all can look for Begum Jaan within us. Especially in the Indian context because Begum Jaan is someone who is fearless, extremely powerful, capable of standing on her own two feet, who is capable of standing up for herself, capable of fighting for herself. But in our patriarchal society that becomes slightly difficult to do. All of us at this point of time are really trying to break free from these shackles patriarchal society. So there is a Begum Jaan within each one of us waiting to burst us forth.
Photo credit: Rohan Shrestha
What else is in store for you after this?
I am doing a film called Tumhari Sulu where I play a late night radio jockey. I think that is going to be fun. It is going to see the naughty side of me in that. I can’t wait for that because I think it has been a while since smiled or laughed in a film. I’ve been doing intense stuff for a while.
Since Parineeta, has your feelings, attitude and approach to roles changed as an actress?
I feel really blessed and grateful for the fact that I am living my dream of being an actor every single day. So whether I am shooting a film or promoting for a film I just feel so lucky. I feel so humbled, that my approach to being an actor really hasn’t changed. If at all there is more gratitude now, there is less fear.
Vidya Balan is truly one of my favorite people to interview; she is always so nice and gives such wonderful answers. I would like to thank her and say I can’t wait to see her in this film and until we talk about her next one.
Begum Jaan, in theaters on Friday, stars Vidya Balan in leading role along with Naseeruddin Shah, Ila Arun, Gauahar Khan, Pallavi Sharda, Rajit Kapoor, Ashish Vidyarthi, Vivek Mushran, Chunky Pandey, Poonam Singh Rajput, Ridheema Tiwari, Flora Saini, Priyanka Setia, Mishti Chakraborty, Sumit Nijhawan, Pitobash and Rajesh Sharma in pivotal roles.
