Sushmita Sen's Interview From 2004

Lehren Retro

Watch this throwback interview of Sushmita Sen from the year 2004 where she talked about working in comedy film "Paisa Vasool", her equation with Manisha Koirala and how she met with an accident while on set.

Transcript

00:00 When I first came to the industry, everyone used to say, "Oh my God! How long is this?"

00:06 "And where will we get a hero for this?"

00:09 In this film, Manisha ji, I, and all of us actors have faced accidents once.

00:16 'Kaisa Bastool' is probably my career's funniest film so far.

00:20 It's a genre that goes into comedy, it's a thriller, it's a drama.

00:26 I think except action, it's pretty much everything.

00:31 Baby is the character I play in the film.

00:35 And she is the funniest woman I've ever met.

00:40 And I'm so looking forward for this film to be released because

00:43 'Bibi No. 1' was a film that people saw me do comedy, attempted for the first time.

00:50 In this film, it's an author-backed role.

00:53 You really have to have gone really wrong not to be able to perform this as beautifully.

00:59 Vaas, the director of the film, he's written it beautifully.

01:02 The whole film was orchestrated so well that for an artist, it was a dream.

01:07 You just had to be on the sets and you had to be pretty much yourself.

01:10 I think I am in real life a pretty funny woman.

01:14 So it was easier for me to do comedy.

01:17 Shukmina ji, can you say that this film is a little bit different from your real life?

01:23 Because I mean, you're quite tall and this film is also like...

01:27 See, one thing definitely happened to me in this industry.

01:34 When I first came into the industry, everyone used to say, "Oh my God, how tall is she?"

01:40 And, "Where will I get a hero for this?"

01:44 So, now after 7 years, sometimes I've lost my heel, sometimes the hero has worn it.

01:52 But it has worked out really well.

01:55 And, in Paisa Vasool, it's the same thing that she's a struggling dancer, actress,

02:00 who's not getting a job because there are no tall heroes in the industry.

02:04 And I think it was beautifully done.

02:07 I don't have much interaction with real life in the film.

02:11 But I can relate to the character of Baby to a great extent.

02:15 Because her friendship with Manisha is there in the film.

02:18 Manisha is Maria in the film.

02:20 So, I can relate to the relationship between Maria and Baby with that friendship.

02:26 Because I've had a lot of such friendships in my life.

02:28 In this film, you've played 10 characters, and you've also played a police inspector.

02:33 So, throughout the journey of playing these characters...

02:35 It's all caricatures.

02:36 It's like you're watching 10 different films in one film.

02:39 And the characters keep changing, like in the film.

02:43 So, in Paisa Vasool, every moment of the film, in conjunction, relating to each other,

02:51 makes a story.

02:52 But every moment in the film is like from a different film.

02:55 So, it's truly Paisa Vasool.

02:58 I mean, you're watching one film and you're watching 10 films in one.

03:01 It changed you again because you've introduced her, like Manisha Chaudhary.

03:04 That's right.

03:05 What was the power of Manisha in this film that made you choose her?

03:09 Look, I think Manisha Kaurala had taken a very smart decision.

03:16 That she wanted to make a film like Paisa Vasool.

03:18 Where, as you know, there's no hero.

03:22 But there are only actors.

03:24 There are actresses, actors, there's Sushant Singh.

03:27 He's done a great job.

03:29 So, we haven't made this film on the laws of the industry.

03:34 That there should be a hero, what are the salability factors,

03:38 there should be an item number, this should be there.

03:41 This film is not made according to that.

03:43 This film is made for an intelligent audience, which is today's audience.

03:46 I mean, today's audience explains us editing,

03:49 tells us that makeup is wrong,

03:50 tells us where the costumes are not right.

03:53 So, for such an audience, it's very important to show a film like Paisa Vasool in today's date.

03:58 So, I think Manisha has done a fantastic job by choosing a subject,

04:01 which is universal.

04:03 Which, right from a little baby to a grown-up person,

04:06 would enjoy watching the film.

04:07 It's an entertainment.

04:08 So, you think it was an interesting experience while working on Paisa Vasool,

04:12 because a lot of madness, a lot of adventure has been happening throughout this project.

04:16 Yes, in this film, in fact, there are so many anecdotes, so many incidents.

04:23 But the serious incidents are that,

04:26 in this film, Manisha ji once, and then me once,

04:30 and then all of us actors have faced accidents once.

04:34 Manisha ji and I were driving a horse-drawn carriage in a scene.

04:38 That horse-drawn carriage,

04:42 the moment it was said to be cut, it was turned upside down.

04:45 At which point, Manisha had a fracture.

04:49 I had a disc problem.

04:52 After doing all this, after getting drenched,

04:54 this film and that scene specifically,

04:56 were made very well, because we both were feeling very uncomfortable on the horse.

05:00 And I was in a police uniform,

05:04 and Maria was also my constable.

05:06 So, all these scenes, unfortunately for us, and thankfully,

05:11 didn't stop the film.

05:13 It was made, despite all that.

05:15 It also happened many times in the film that,

05:18 the clothes of the baby,

05:20 the character's clothes,

05:22 had to be very funky and things.

05:24 So, the designer used to bring the clothes on the set,

05:26 and Manisha and I used to sit and take scissors,

05:29 cut the clothes in between and make it fanciful.

05:32 So, in the entire film, the costumes you will see,

05:35 I request you with folded hands,

05:37 that you only see the costumes according to the character.

05:40 Because, there are so many,

05:43 dirty costumes, because the character was very dirty,

05:47 that it's come out really well.

05:49 I mean, we have really worked hard.

05:50 I think, me and Manisha both have been the designers,

05:52 costume designers in the film.

05:54 We've been make-up artists.

05:56 We have done some of the dialogues on our own also.

05:58 It's a comedy, you have to improvise all the time.

06:01 But, amazing time we've had.

06:03 It's an amazing time.

06:04 The very fact that, I think, in so many ways,

06:16 this film is a pioneering effort.

06:19 I mean, to have a commercial Hindi film,

06:22 with no hero, two women,

06:24 and it's in the lines of very,

06:27 you know, you used to have these films with Mr. Bachchan,

06:30 and Vinod Khanna,

06:32 and you know, these whole two male friends stories.

06:35 I think, years later,

06:37 we have attempted to recapture that,

06:39 Laurel and Hardy pair,

06:41 with two women.

06:42 And, to me, that's very special,

06:44 because years down the line,

06:45 when people watch Paisa Vasu,

06:47 it will stand for what it really is.

06:49 It's a pioneering effort.

06:50 It's going against what has been forever done.

06:53 And in commercials.

06:55 So, that, and the fact that,

06:57 I always feel very proud,

06:59 when a woman does something new, you know.

07:01 And, Manisha being a very dear friend,

07:04 and for her to be producing her first film,

07:06 I'm truly very blessed that she thought of me.

07:09 And, I hope baby works in the film,

07:12 because Manisha was really counting on me being baby,

07:15 and I've done whatever I could.

07:17 Rest is, you guys have to watch the film.

07:19 Now, you have to go and watch this film,

07:21 because it's very, very close to us.

07:23 And, it's not a film that we sit and say,

07:25 "Arey, it's a very in-depth, cinematic experience."

07:30 [Music]

07:46 you

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