To get the nuances of that period right, Soha attended Urdu diction classes, learnt Kathak, horse riding and sword fighting.
"I learnt Kathak for two months and had to work really hard to make it look genuinely classical," Soha said.
"It's a great exercise and teaches a lot of grace in movement. A huge part of the dance is abhinay as you perform with your facial expressions. In dance, you have to exaggerate your body language and facial expressions, something that helps me in my performance as an actor too. Dance is exhilarating. Rajat and I have been going regularly for classes," she added.
She also studied old films for reference. "We explored different styles of acting. Watching films of Bimal Roy or Guru Dutt gave insights on how to experiment with different styles, looks, performances, and situations," she said.
"Sudhir told me that women in Guru Dutt's films were more realistic. They are actual portrayals of how women in those times were like. They were not caricatures. My references were women like Waheeda Rehman, Madhubala and Meena Kumari. We watched movies like Guide, Pyasa, Kagaz Ke Phool, Sahib, Biwi Aur Gulam, Pakeezah and Umrao Jaan for the dancing, and references for the kind of hairstyles, makeup...," Soha explained.
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