After her critically acclaimed performance in Shanker Raman’s Gurgaon , actor Ragini Khanna has appeared in the recently-released Zee5 original Posham Pa – a psychological thriller directed by the National Award-winning filmmaker Suman Mukhopadhyay. The film is inspired by real-life events and apart from Ragini, it has Mahie Gill and Sayani Gupta playing pivotal parts. Here she talks about her films, her departure from television roles and why she enjoys humour.
Edited excerpts
Tell us about your new film 'Posham Pa'?
It is based on the research done on psychologically disturbed female serial killers by senior journalist Praful Shah and on that basis, the story on a psychologically disturbed mother who coerces her daughters into a life of crime, was written. Women are worshipped in our country and in films they are shown as a mother figure. Imagining this was a hard task. I was shocked by knowing that something like this exists. I did the film because the purpose was bigger than the film. The director has kept it to the facts and has not allowed viewers to feel the crime. We don't want you to fall in love with these people.
How the experience was different from 'Gurgaon' which also had similar treatment?
My paternal family is from Gurgaon. I was jumping with joy when I got it. For me, it was more than a film because it was about societal degradation. I was playing Preet and and as she died, it metaphorically represented how love has been put to death there. As a citizen of the world, it was very emotional for me as it was for Shankar (Raman) who spent six years of his life on that project. Getting it released was a huge challenge but when it came on Netflix and Hotstar, people realised its impact. People now say it was ahead of its time but it was not. People were just unaware.
Your image in both the films is a total departure from your television roles?
I intend to bring content and even on television, I was doing content rich work. I was always been seen as a happy and bubbly girl but I do not want people to live on a staple diet of a happy go lucky girl. As an artist, I find it very boring. .
Most of your family is associated with mainstream films, but you are doing independent films
I am the black sheep of my family. When I discovered the independent circuit, I was amazed by their knowledge. I was not able to do something initially because of my commitments on television. I threw myself into that to learn the language and I understood the world later when I did acting workshops and watched World cinema at the MAMI film festival. I met Vasan Bala for ‘Peddlers’ but it did not happen. It was around 2014 when I got ‘Ghoomketu’ but unfortunately it did not release. At that time, people judged me for working with Nawazuddin Siddiqui and even my family asked me why I am not working with some A list actors. I wish I was an outsider because I carried the baggage of my legacy.
There are only a few female actors doing comedy on television...
I don't think that humour is gender-biased. We have seen so many actresses who have done comedy such as Bharti and Kavita Kaushik. It's about skill set and comic timing but hosting on television became difficult for me because boys were doing anything in the name of comedy. It was crass humour and buffoonery for me. I can’t make fun of people.
