Swara Bhaskar is not your regular Bollywood heroine. No airs, no trace of arrogance, she has no fake accent either. Though she has been around for a couple of years now, with a film like Tanu Weds Manu under her belt. A chat with her gives you the impression that 2013 might just be her breakthrough year. She is now waiting to see the response of cinegoers to the title role in Listen Amaya , the film that brings back the popular romantic pair of Farooque Sheikh and Deepti Naval after 28 years. Swara also has a Yash Raj film in her kitty.
At her residence in New Delhi, Swara admits that her ways of working in Bollywood might have caused a slight delay in shaping up her career. “I was too innocent to deal with the ways things should be dealt with in Bollywood, did not know the tricks. My friends told me that I was unable to cash in on the success of Tanu Weds Manu but now I am picking up, slowly but with fruitful results. I have five releases for 2013 lined up one after the other.”
Swara, however, shows confidence in the industry, citing examples of outsiders who have tasted success without a godfather. “I think Bollywood is a gamble, you can get an example of everything here. The redeeming thing about the industry is that it recognises talent, it may take some time but good work gets paid here. Nawazuddin is a good example of that. He is in Mumbai for quite some time and is a very good actor but it is now that he got some well deserved recognition, he also got awarded for his performance in the film Gangs of Wasseypur ,” she says.
About Listen Amaya , she states, “It is a mother and daughter story. Amaya’s character comes to a point where a conflict enters her life; she is very close to her mother. A certain type of conflict enters her life where she has to see her mother as not just her mother but also as a woman, as an individual with her own life and how this character reacts to that. It is a very real film, very sensitively made honest film and at the same time it is also a fun film.” The film has four beautiful songs and ‘Ek ladki bheegi bhaagi si’ and ‘Man ki patang’ are my favourite songs,” she adds. “Above all, it is a comeback film for Farooque sir and Deepti ma’am after a gap of nearly three decades, there is a lot of buzz about that.”
She also admits it was like entering a classroom to work with people like Farooque Sheikh and Deepti Naval. “They helped me in a very gentle way. Both are legendary actors, very warm as individuals. I feel really honoured and privileged in getting the opportunity to work with them. They made me feel very comfortable and that too in a very nice way and as a result we improvised the scenes a lot. I used to have long conversations with Deepti ma’am, Farooque sir is such a pleasure to talk to. I think effortless acting is the toughest lesson for an actor. I just watched them acting, they are so fluent, like water. Watching them was a big lesson for me.”
Swara is also excited about her role in the film. She says she initially questioned the characterisation of Amaya to the director Avinash Singh. “I told him this girl is a brat, people are not going to accept her. Is she the villain of the film, I think people are going to hurl shoes at her but in the end things have shaped up beautifully.”
Swara, a trained Bharatanatyam dancer, would like to tap her talent in that field as well. She is even open to doing an item number in a film simply because she loves dancing. “Every top heroine in the industry has done item numbers and these kind of songs add glamour to your career, so if the script demands I will be more than willing to do that. I am a trained dancer and I love dancing, never miss an opportunity. I had a wonderful time doing the marriage scenes in Tanu Weds Manu simply because I got the opportunity to dance.”
She is also looking forward to her next film Aurangzeb , a Yash Raj film, an action-packed drama. She is also trying her hand at horror with a film called Machli Jal Ki Raani . Another of Swara’s film Raanjhanaa, directed by Ananad Rai starring Sonam Kapoor, Abhay Deol and Dhanush, is slated for June 28 release. Following these films will be a relationship comedy, Sabki Bajegi Band . Speaking about the films, she states, “All the films are completely different, very different characters.”
