How Nishabd happened
Six months into my acting course, I got the Nishabd offer. I could have tried in Hollywood, but I always wanted to do Bollywood films.
I went to Ramu because I admire him a lot as a director. I met him as a fan. He asked me whether I am an actress and I said I am aspiring to be one. After a few weeks, I got a call from his office. I met him again and he told me about the role. He also said he was considering Mr (Amitabh) Bachchan to play the main lead.
I did not believe that he (Bachchan) would do take up the controversial role. But things happened just too fast! Ramu spoke to me in May and we started shooting a month after that.
Nishabd is the intense love story of an older man and a younger girl. It is loosely based on Lolita. There are no sexual scenes in the movie. It is about a man who is stuck in his routine and when a fresh and fun-loving girl comes to his life, he is totally blown away by her.
The character I play is of a high school girl. She is very similar to me. She is carefree. She is sensual without realising it.
We shot the film in 23 days. Ramu is such an intelligent director that he had everything in his head and things materialised very fast.
When I would finish shooting and come back to my hotel room, I would always wish I could shoot two more hours.
I was very sick during the shootings -- I had high fever and was even admitted to a hospital. But even when I was on the drip, I was raring to go back and shoot.
Tell us: Can Amitabh do a Lolita?