Too hot to handle: Urmila says most people in the industry don’t know how to handle her - because she has a mind of her own and won’t keep mum about things she feels strongly about. Her choice of films has been a talking point too.
Last year it was her role in ‘Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Maara’ and this year, it is her upcoming film, ‘Benaras’. On face of it, it seems she has been incredibly lucky with the kind of offers she’s got. But Urmila disagrees.
“It is a double-edged sword. Some people tell me that at a time when even male stars are playing safe and opting for multi-starrers, you have had the guts to take on films that totally depend on your drawing power. But I feel if you don’t take risks, you’re not growing.”
What’s meaningful? In that case, why do other female actors moan about lack of woman-oriented roles in the industry? “All of them are cowards. They all want to play safe. Some actors claim that they are doing meaningful cinema and talk about how they will appear without make-up or in a different hairdo! (Laughs) Some of them even manage to scare the audience with their no make-up look!”
Urmila has a very different definition of ‘meaningful cinema’, a term bandied about so often by her colleagues. “I believe that even if you are playing a glam doll in a film, if the role is something that makes you grow as an actor and is done with a generous dose of conviction, it is good cinema.”
A few good women: Urmila says she cherishes some of the compliments received from her fellow actors. “Shabana (Azmi) said you manage to stick your neck out with every role. Isha Koppikar said, ‘you go ahead and do what we only talk about.’ I admire these women as not many in the industry compliment other people.”
However, she says, earning respectability was not an easy task. “It’s been a rocky ride. There are times when things don’t work out the way you want them to. But that doesn’t mean you stop taking chances. One thing I know for sure, few years down the line actors will look at me as the first one to have taken maximum risks.”
s_shubha@dnaindia.net
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