National-award winning actor, Riddhi Sen speaks to Guardian 20 about his latest film, Helicopter Eela, alongside Kajol. The 20-year-old actor also talks about the USP of the film, and the challenges he came across while shooting for it.
Q. What was your first reaction when you were offered the film and what attracted you to the role?
A. First Pradeep Da [Pradeep Sarkar, director of the film] called me and he asked me “If I would be interested in a role?” And I was like “Tell me the story.” I had done an ad with him in 2016 and he offered me the role in Helicopter Eela in 2017. He told me that he is making a film after three years and it is a mother-and-son story, and Kajol will be playing the role of a mother, and he was thinking if I could do the son. Who says no to this offer? I thought I would go through a lengthy process of audition considering the scale of the movie. Then Dada [Sarkar] suddenly called me to Mumbai and I went there and I was sitting at his office and I remember a woman who was crossing me said that “Don’t you know you are already in the movie?” And I was like “Are you kidding me?” That very day I met Kajol ma’am. Dada has something like an audiobook—where he records the entire movie with voice artistes and music. So before going on the floor, you know the entire duration of the film, what parts need to be rewritten, what parts need improvements—so you know all these things before starting the film. The audiobook was done in January and we started shooting in July. During the gap of these months, all I was thinking was, “Am I really in the movie?” This was how unbelievable it was.
Q. How was your experience working with Kajol?
A. I was definitely nervous. But this movie is based on a mother-son relationship. And the relationship between mother and son can be anything but nervous or uncomfortable because they are staying with each other for the past 19 years. But we, Kajol and I, didn’t know each other at all. That was the part I was most scared about and kept thinking if I could bring that comfort. I was thinking this before meeting her and after reading the script. But the kind of person she is, her exuberance, her positivity—and she is what she is, a no-nonsense person, who always speaks her mind— when I observed her as we shot, I realised that she is the kind of person I really get along well with. So, all my preconceived notions about her just faded away.
Q. Could you relate your on-screen relationship with your reel mother, to your off-screen relationship with your real mother?
A. My mother is a lot different from the “helicopter mom”. And it is a different kind of a bond altogether. But at the end of the day, Vivaan and Eela [characters in the film] are best friends, all they have is each other. And I think my mother is my best friend, so those are the parts I related to… Besides your parents helping you to grow up, you are also helping your parents to grow, and this is the equation I have had and will always have with my parents. We help each other grow, just like best friends do. While shooting I also recollected some moments that I had spent with my parents and those were so special.
Q. How different is Vivaan from Riddhi?
A. Very different. First of all, Vivaan grew up with a single parent and that’s a difficult part to get because someone who grew up with single parenting either goes completely out of the way or becomes extra and super responsible. I am also a responsible son in real life but the kind of responsibility a person who has grown with a single parent has is very different. He is like the man of the house. He starts taking the family responsibility much earlier and his bonding with his parent is extra special as well. It is like us against the world. To slip into that kind of psychology is where I had to act and the entire concept of helicopter parent was amusing too… I enjoyed creating the script and working with the entire cast a lot.
Q. What is that one thing that you learned from Kajol as a person and from Kajol as a mother?
A. I think Kajol as a mother and Kajol as a person is the same thing. Her approach to parenting is also very friendly. When I watched her interviews 15 years back, and even now that I am working with her, she is the same person. She believes in the same thing. She has a strong belief system, which acutely inspires me.
Q. What are the three things that make this movie a must-watch?
A. First, it doesn’t have any generation bar. The film’s foundation and basic emotions are so strong that everyone will relate to it. Second, I feel that after both parents and children have watched the film, they would look at each other slightly differently. And third, the message that this film gives out is that you can’t just be categorised as someone’s mother or someone’s wife, you have your own identity but again no one is shoving that message down your throat… It talks about so many current issues but in an entertaining way.
Q. You are the youngest actor to have won a National Award. So what does an award mean to you? And are you happy with the projects that are being offered to you now?
A. Yes, absolutely. At my age, it is difficult to get interesting roles because I am going through a transformational age. You won’t always get characters that are your age and interesting as well. In that way, I will say that I am very lucky. The roles that I have got have been very satisfying and I have worked with amazing directors. And after winning the National Award, I am very grateful to the jury that they thought that I can be deserving of winning this. However, after winning the award I didn’t think that I am the biggest actor across the nation.