Aditi Rao Hydari’s Twitter account states it all — “Living the dream”.
The trained Bharatanatyam dancer, who began her cinema journey with Tamil film Sringaram, has come full circle as she awaits the release of the Mani Ratnam-directed Kaatru Veliyidai, her second Tamil film.
Hydari has worked largely in Bollywood, winning the Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Yeh Saali Zindagi. The Legend of Michael Mishra was her last release.
In an exclusive interview with Gulf News tabloid!, Hydari opens up about landing a part in the veteran director’s movie and more.
Excerpts:
The aww moment
“I was at home when I got the call from Mani Ratnam sir’s office and for a while, I stared in disbelief. My trip to his office was surreal. When he offered me the film I jumped and gave Mani sir a bear hug. As a little girl I wished to work with him and it was coming true. I didn’t tell a soul, not even my mum. I told her a week before we started shooting.”
Role play
“I play Leela, who has just finished her MBBS... [making her] Dr Leela actually. She travels to Kashmir for her first job at a hospital there. The thing with doctors is that they are nurturing and yet have to be emotionally centred and even detached. I’m the opposite. I get drawn into people and situations. My empathy metre is far too high for my own good.
Leela is also discovering life and falling in love. You can’t prepare for these feelings. Yet they seemed natural because of the way Mani sir gets into the head of his characters — his writing, the way he stages a scene and he understands what goes on in a girl’s head. It all felt real.
Preparing for Dr Leela
I spent some days at Apollo Hospital, Chennai, where I interacted with doctors who patiently answered all my questions. I was permitted to watch them work and observed their body language and how they speak to patients. I saw the procedures at the emergency and paediatric ward; learnt to take blood pressure correctly, and to use a stethoscope in a particular way. I had to learn that. The stethoscope used to hurt my ears.”
Language barrier
“Tamil is a new language for me. I don’t speak it at all nor do I understand it. I did Sringaram while I was studying and it wasn’t going to have a commercial release so the language wasn’t so daunting.
This was a Mani Ratnam love story, a dream come true and I wanted to give it my all. I didn’t want a language to be a barrier. I wanted to absorb Mani sir’s direction and perform naturally.
Mani sir trained me himself. I spent lots of time at his office, learning the intonation, the nuances, discovering the character with Mani sir. I could ask him anything. His love for the language was infectious. I’ve begun to understand it more and I now love it too. What seemed impossible was a blessing because of the time it gave me with Mani sir. Being with the team felt like home.”
Lessons learnt
“Mani sir is a teacher in the real sense. He says we must discover the character together. He will never tell you what to do and clip your wings. Instead, he gives you wings to fly and encourages you to explore, to be free, to discover, all the while pushing you to the extreme... [he] and gently nudges you to reach where you should, sometimes with just a word. It’s been a life-altering experience to work with him.”
Shooting challenges
“Everything about the film was challenging — the locations, the language, the script and the characters. Mani sir would quite often shoot four pages [of] scenes in a single shot or maybe two. Being a classic love story, from the language to the emotion, it is intense.
When I first saw how much we were going to shoot in a day I burst out crying. I marked my script with colourful posts, to help demarcate scenes and days. I’m going to preserve this script forever with those posts.
Honestly, when you’re living your dream and a childhood wish is coming true, language hiccups and minus 15 degrees are small discomforts. The joy of being in front of the camera and being directed by Mani sir trumps any hurdle; to be challenged and to be pushed to give my best was a blessing.”
Co-star Karthi
“Karthi is the best co-actor I could ask for. I hadn’t watched any of his films and I instinctively chose not to until shoot was over. I didn’t read anything about him either. I got to know him as just Karthi. There was no baggage and it was amazing working like that.
Karthi and I were thrown in at the deep end of the pool on day one... bang in the middle of a hectic scene.
When you have an amazing actor opposite you, it makes you better. Karthi is a generous actor. He takes as much interest in your performance as he does with his own. Caring and patient, he never judges. Nor is he ever satisfied and [is always] finding ways to better himself. He rarely compliments so when he does you know it’s for real.”
Difficult moments of ‘Kaatru Veliyidai’
“I don’t think there was a single scene that wasn’t difficult. If the emotion was graspable the temperature was minus 15 degrees. If the temperature was perfect there was a dust storm and wind [strong] enough to literally blow me away. If it was a song I had a mammoth catch in my waist so I couldn’t move without popping pills and [doing] physio. If everything was perfect Mani sir would make sure he pushed you to a place you never thought you could be in emotionally. There was never a dull moment. That’s the way I like it, being swept away into a windy expanse... truly kaatru veliyidai [breezy expanse]! “
Up next
“There is Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati where I am opposite Ranveer [Singh], another dream director from my wish list. Next is my first title role in Omung Kumar’s Bhoomi. It’s a father-daughter story with Sanjay Dutt and it’s been incredible working with him. He is such a powerful performer and so effortless.”
Off the sets
“I love being with family. At other times I watch films and do yoga. Sometimes I open my chanting book from school and just sing with my shruti box [an instrument]. I love to cook and feed people. I have an open house and there is always food for everyone. I enjoy playing seven tiles and kho kho, and love hanging with kids. It’s therapeutic.”
Incognito moments
“I roam around in my torn jeans without a spot of make-up and pretty much go everywhere, eat chaat, go to the old furniture market, chill on the beaches of Goa, just being myself.
People don’t expect it so they invariably come up to my mum and say, “Aunty your daughter looks like a tiny version of Aditi Rao Hydari.”
Dedicated to soldiers
This romantic tale set against the backdrop of the Indian Air Force is a salute to Indian soldiers, said Mani Ratnam at the audio launch for the film.
“It expresses our gratitude to them,” he said. “We hope that the film will awaken the audience to feel for the soldiers who protect our country.”
The supporting cast includes Malayalam actress K.P.A.C Lalitha, Rukmini Vijayakumar, Delhi Ganesh and RJ Balaji.
A.R. Rahman, continuing his 25-year association with Ratnam that began with Roja, has scored the music.
Produced by Madras Talkies, Kaatru Veliyidai releases in the UAE on April 7.
