Actor Richa Chadda will be seen in a different avatar in Jia Aur Jia, says Saimi Sattar
Her characters, even when they are miniscule, have a definite voice. One never has to think what character, actor Richa Chadda played in a movie — they immediately and unconsciously spring to mind. Whether it is Bholi Punjaban in Fukrey or Naghma Khatoon in Gangs of Wasseypur which incidentally helped her land 11 more roles or Masan where one admired the quiet strength of a girl being shamed for indulging in casual sex.
Chadda will soon be seen in Jia Aur Jia which releases next week. But the movie with Kalki Koechlin another powerhouse performer, looks very different from her previous outings. She says, “I wanted to do a fun thing after doing movies like Masaan. The movie will make people view female friendship in a normal manner and not see it as a female centric or women oriented film.”
Moreover, Chadda wants to make a point by doing a movie about friendship between women. “I feel women travel and have fun together and more films need to be made about that. When we were trying to find a precedence for this film, we did not find a single one. That’s the reason we thought about making a film on women bonding,” says the actor.
Not just movies, even the industry is changing. Chadda feels that there is a shift in Bollywood where women are increasingly finding their voice. “Women in the industry are forthright now. Whether it is Sonam, Kangana or Anushka or me. We are not a generation that will keep our ideas to ourselves. If we feel that there is something is wrong, we do come out and discuss it.” Chadda has in the past spoken about her battle with bullimia. People in the industry asked her to “gain weight, then lose weight, fix my nose and inflate my lips” for her showbiz journey — something which led her “confidence to evaporate”.
She spoke about the eating disorders that exist among industry members — a “best kept secret” — at a TedX Talks, a platform that helps people share ideas that will motivate and inspire others.
But not just the industry, Chadda has also been very forthright about her relationship with actor Ali Fazal. She says, “There are vibes and there is a bond. There is a meeting of the minds. But beyond a point, I do not want to accept or deny a relationship because it takes away from my work. And it is unfair to the films that both of us are doing.”
It is of course important for Chadda to keep the focus firmly on her work as the journey from Delhi to Mumbai has been been uphill one for her. “I am already in a minority because I am a woman in the industry. Then I am in a minority because I want to be selective about the roles that I do. Then I am in a minority because I want to be selective of the roles and be responsible for the the characters that I play. For this reason I am very content with the work that I have done,” she adds. For Chadda, the roles, the movies and their quality matters, in equal measure.
She admits, that the journey has unfolded well even though it was very tough. “The struggle does not end, it stays. You have to keep remembering why you are here. You have to love it,” she says.
And she gets into the skin of each of the characters by meticulous preparation. “I read the script. make notes and prepare a back story of the character and I work on it. Once the preparation is done, I build it within the structure of the film,” she says.
But she makes sure she does not get deeply affected by any of the noire characters that she has played. “I try to be balanced about my work. I am happy with the way it is going. The content is getting better,” she says.
Chadda adds that there is one thing that has changed since the time she made her debut in Oye lucky, lucky Oye, in 2008 — she is not as stressed as she used to be about her work.
Chadda wants to expand her oeuvre and “probably look at production in the near future and not direction.”
She has always been confident about what she wants from the outset. From the beginning she was sure that it was the performing arts that she wanted to be a part of. “Once you are an artist, you are always an artist. You can’t be in a job or be a doctor. I don’t think that is possible. I’ve always wanted to act since I was a child. It was a natural order of things,” she says. Of course it helped that her family supportive but apprehensive.
Delhi where she spent her growing up years has had a huge impact on her life. “lt will always be special. It made me who I am. My college, my friends, my school and college influenced me. There is a certain milieu, an ethos which affected me to a large scale. It is not possible to live in Delhi and not be affected by it,” she admits.
Chadda, who is close to her Fukrey and Masan co-actors says that nepotism does affect the industry hugely but it is something that has always been there.
“It is a trending topic but it always existed. It affects the whole industry. If you are going to work within a select group of people in the industry, it will always affect us. And more than that, it affects the overall standard,” says the actor who will be seen next in Fukrey returns, love Sonia and Ghoomketu.
But beyond movies, Chadda loves to do photography, read, and write. “I maintain a pretty healthy balance,” she says signing off.