Radhika Madan talks to Guardian 20 about the kind of preparation that went behind perfecting her role of Supri for the recently released action comedy Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota. She also speaks about how her first two film directors, Vishal Bhardwaj and Vasan Bala, helped her become a better actress.
Q. For your Hindi film debut with Vishal Bhardwaj, inPataakha, you prepared for your role by living in a village, by performing daily chores there and had also gained weight for it. What kind of preparation did you do for Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota?
A. Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota was a physically very challenging film. I had never ever watched an action film before in my life. I had no idea if I’d ever do an action film. I even told Vasan Sir [director of Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota] that I am not interested in action, but he told me that I can do it. It’s just that when I read the script, it was so intriguing that I wanted to be a part of it and learn action. It started with four hours of training every day and I had to start everything from scratch because I didn’t know how to kick, didn’t know anything about martial arts. I watched an action film every day. It was very challenging for me because I used to get bored watching these films and would need a break after every 20-30 minutes. This went on for a month or so, and then I got used to watching these films and started loving them. I trained in martial arts for 8-9 months. So basically, it was physically very challenging.
Q. The film garnered great response at 2018 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and 2018 MAMI Film Festival. So was it reassuring for you as an actor who is still trying to cement her position in the film industry?
A. Definitely. With Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, we kind of felt like an underdog. Very few people believed in it. And we actually thought that it is going to be very risky. We were not sure if people were going to like it. Though we ourselves loved it and believed in it, we were slightly unsure about the audience’s reaction. We weren’t even sure if we would be selected for the festival, forget about winning an award. [The film won People’s Choice Award: Midnight Madness at TIFF.] The response at MAMI was overwhelming too. It was then that we realised we have possibly made something which is great.
Q. How different or how similar are Vishal Bhardwaj’s and Vasan Bala’s respective styles of filmmaking?
A. With Vishal Sir, the thing is his prep is very strong. We stick to the script 90% of the times. When we are going on the set we know what our lines are. We improvise here and there but we are very prepared. I even remembered Sanya’s [Sanya Malhotra, Madan’s co-star in Pataakha] dialogues because we had done the reading so many times. But with Vasan Sir you don’t know what is going to happen on set. We would do the readings and preps but on set he will change everything. In this way they are both very different. And what is similar between them is that their vision is very clear and they feel strongly about it. They don’t bother about what people are going to think. They are not stuck in the superficial stuff too—be it the looks or the typical way in which Bollywood films are made. Their work is very authentic and realistic.
Q.You were going to audition for Laila Majnu by Imtiaz Ali but you ended up getting Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota instead. How did that happen?
A. I had gone to audition for Laila Majnuand somebody saw me there and asked me if I knew how to do action. I told him that I don’t but since I am a dancer I am very flexible. So he asked me to do a few kicks and things like that, and I did it and then I auditioned for Laila Majnu. I was supposed to meet Imtiaz Sir and Vasan Sir on the same day. So my meeting with Vasan Sir happened first and then I don’t know what happened but they never called me for Laila Majnu. I don’t know what happened between them internally but I got Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota. I personally wanted my debut to be in Kashmir with those aesthetics, and that’s because I have grown up watching such films. I am a typical Bollywood movie buff but in both of my films [Pataakha and Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota] I am not doing anything like that. But I am very happy to be a part of these two films because I loved the scripts and they were so different.
Q. Do you have any parameters based on which you sign a film?
A. When you are starting outl, you just want to work. You don’t have the luxury to choose projects. So I didn’t have the luxury to choose between Laila Majnuand Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota. I did what I got and I also believed in whatever I was doing. I will never do something that I don’t believe in because in front of the camera it will show. And I am an outsider. I didn’t even know where to start from. Luckily, after Pataakha projects are being offered to me and this is a luxury for me.
Q. What did the experience of working with filmmakers Bala and Bhardwaj teach you as an actor?
A. Both of them helped me by bursting the bubble that I was living in. I think as an actor and as a person, I was too much into superficial things, because I was already told that I have a commercial face. What they told me was that I needed to destroy that bubble and rooted me as an actor. They made me realise that only art and talent will sustain. Now I look at cinema in a different way. This is something I will forever be grateful for.
Q. You worked in televison before shifting to films. Do you miss anything about acting on the small screen?
A. Television was my school. I didn’t know anything about acting back then. I learned acting while doing TV. Ekta ma’am [Ekta Kapoor, producer of Madan’s debut TV show, Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi] believed in me and I don’t know what she saw in me. So I owe TV a lot.