Actress Lara Dutta says she is at a stage in her career where she is on the lookout for characters who promise to leave a lasting impression instead of chasing leading roles.
Lara Dutta She has been working in the industry since her debut on the big screen with Andaz in 2003 and has featured in several successful films over the past two decades.
In an interview with PTI, the actor said that what he gets for joining a project today is the script, the people involved in making it and the scope for him to innovate. That’s why, he said, even a movie like Bellbottom, which had the headline Akshay KumarInspired him to play the role of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
“It is the content that is being created, what the character is doing excites me. I’ve come a long way from the stage where I want to play the lead, because at the end of the day, I really think you’re limiting yourself a lot if you’re going to come along with that mindset. ,
“There are some incredible characters who leave an indelible mark on your mind, long after a show or a movie is over. A classic example is playing Mrs. Gandhi in Bellbottom, where the film was led by a top hero. But I knew that if I got a chance to play his role, I would do it in such a way that he would never be forgotten on screen,” said Dutta.
The 43-year-old actress said that she is looking forward to not only experimenting with her characters but also changing genres in the digital space since the launch of OTT in 2020.
While her first series Hundred featured her as a cop, 2021 saw her play a single mother in the dating world with hiccups and hookups.
She is now gearing up for the release of her third OTT outing, Kaun Banega Shikharvati, which stars Naseeruddin Shah As an eccentric king in search of his successor – one of his four daughters played by Dutta, Soha Ali Khan, Kritika Kamra and Anya Singh.
Directed by Gaurav Chawla and Ananya Banerjee of Bazaar fame, the series follows daughters as they compete in a series of royal games, the winner of which will be chosen as the ‘king’.
Dutta, who plays the eldest daughter Devyani in the ZEE5 series, said that since her character already considers herself to be the heir apparent, she finds it “totally bizarre” to fight for the throne.
“So their coming together to play these games with each other leads to a lot of comedy, fun and quirks. I loved the chance to step into a world like that. Led by an eccentric king This is crazy family,” she added.
For the former Miss Universe, who was born in Uttar Pradesh and later lived in Bengaluru and Mumbai, understanding the world of royalty was no task. She said that she has seen that life through her friends, who are members of royal families.
“They live in the fancy localities of Mumbai and Delhi, leading a cosmopolitan life, but as soon as they go back to their state and princely states, they have to wear these sarees with ghunghat (veil). They live in a different world to the time that they spend there. These are the royal families present, caught in the warp of a time. They exist in their own little world which is separate from reality.”
But the series, backed by Applause Entertainment in association with Emmy Entertainment, follows the lives of a fictional royal family through humour, she said.
“The show seemed quirky, fun and different from anything that already existed in the OTT space. We have seen a lot of dysfunctional families on screen before but this one is set in a dystopian setting… almost in a Wes Anderson type of world.
Dutta said the series gave the actor a chance to act alongside greats like Shah and Raghubir Yadav.
He added that the idea of sharing screen space with veterans was “spooky as hell” initially.
“I have a line in the show, where I look at Raghubir ji and Naseer sahib and say, ‘Have you both gone mad? (Have you two old men lost your mind). I was like, I can’t tell them, I said ‘Can we rewrite this?’ But they were both like, ‘Just have fun with it.'”
“When you are facing an actor there is a lot of panic and anxiety. Naseer sahib is many years ahead of us in his art. But what an incredible opportunity to see, learn, watch and imbibe. One of the biggest reasons for me doing the show was because he was in it,” he added.
Kaun Banegi Shikharwati will premiere on January 7.
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