Mamata Bhukya has been in New York for several appearances connected with  her film Vanaja.   She and director Rajnesh Domalpalli have been at the red carpet premiere and  at several screenings  to introduce the film and to do Q&A sessions afterward.   I caught up with both of them recently as they grabbed a meal in between screenings.   Rajnesh was kind enough to serve as interpreter for Mamata, who speaks Telugu, Hindi, and quite a bit of English.

Q: What is your  favorite scene in Vanaja?

My favorite scene is the one in which Vanaja cries for her baby.     I’m very frightened by that scene.   I thought I never would be able to get that much emotion in me but before that you (Rajnesh) made me do dhanam, which is concentration, then after that I felt I got the confidence that I would be able to do it.   When I was doing it all the people around me began to cry.   I saw that and I was surprised.   After the shot was over you told me “You did very well” and I was very happy and that’s the most difficult scene, now I like it the most.

Q: And what about your favorite  dance scene?

I like the tillana a lot.   I like all of them.   In the tillana there’s a kind of rhythm in it that’s why I like it a lot.

Q: Do you practice dance now when you’re  in NY, in your  room?

No.   (Laughs)

Q: What do you  like to do when you’re  not in school, in your  free time?

I’m fond of writing a diary, very fond of drawing, and I like songs.

Q: What kind of songs?   Popular music?

Any, but melodious.  

Q: Would you ever  do a mainstream Tollywood movie?

I will, but the story should be good.   A woman should be shown with respect but in many movies they show women with short dresses; I don’t like that.   When the woman is in distress the boy comes and rescues her; I don’t like that.   If you show both, you should show them equally.   If they’re nice roles, so long as women are not being shown like a doll, those kinds of roles, then I will do it.

Q: Has you  seen any mainstream Telugu movies that  you liked?

Yes, I’ve seen one when I was a little girl.   The film was Osey Ramulamma, the actress was Vijayshanti.    She is my favorite actress because  she  takes roles where she confronts men, so I like her.

Q:   What have you  been doing in New York all this time, when not at screenings?

You (she says to Rajnesh) took me to 42nd street and Central Park, Washington Square Park.  

Q: Are you missing home?   And food?

I want to go there but I also want to stay here.   Food, a little bit.   (Rajnesh adds he suspects it’s more than that.)

The night before he appeared at Lincoln Center for the Bachchan Sandhya, Amitabh Bachchan came to the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan for a press conference.

After some welcome comments from the Bhavan’s Dr. Navin Mehta and Dr. P Jayaraman, Mr. Bachchan said, as he loomed over the podium at us:

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen.   Thank you so much for having me here this evening.   And for giving me an opportunity to be present among the people of New York on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of my father.  

I think in many ways Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has gone one up on us in the family because we were planning to do some kind of celebration on the 27 November which is Babu-ji’s birthday.   But Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has decided to do something before us and therefore we are feeling a little bad about it but we will accept this gesture on their part.  

I thought that I would express whatever I had to at the function tomorrow but if there are any specific questions that the media would like to know on this occasion I’ll be very happy to answer.  

We are happy that there is an institution like the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in North America that looks after Hindi and Hindi speaking people, talks about our culture, our tradition, our literature.   This bodes very well for all expatriates who live out of our country and who miss and are deprived of any kind of cultural or literary activities and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan takes care of that.   I’ve been greatly impressed by the talks I’ve been having with the people concerned.   It’s so wonderful an institution I hope they continue doing the good work and propagating our language and our culture in other parts of the world as well.  

We are 1/6th of the entire population of the world, we are a billion people in India and a large number of them speak Hindi.   I think it’s only worthwhile that our culture and our traditions go beyond Indian shores.   We do in the Hindi film industry in a very, very small way what we can to propagate our culture, our language in the field of entertainment.   Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and other people associated with it are doing something similar but on a more professional and more ethical and greater cultural level than we do, but all the same, this is a wonderful enterprise, I’m very happy to be here, and I hope that tomorrow evening will go off well.   Thank you so much.”

Q & A:

Q:   Has anyone asked or discussed making a film of your father’s life?

AB:   No.

Q:   Who are some of your favorite authors or poets?

AB: There are several but I have to admit that I’m very biased as far as my father is concerned.

Q: On the 60th independence, what does independence mean to you?   Do you think we are independent?

AB:   Yeah, I think that our forefathers fought for independence and we are in our 60th year.   I do believe that, rather than become cynical and critical of what our country has done, we have to believe that, we’re a very young nation.   60 years in the life of a nation is a very small period.   You have to understand that we have lived a major portion of our existence being ruled by others.  

It was the Moghuls first, and then the British, and despite that we are today being looked upon as the future superpower of the world.   I think in a short span of time to be able to achieve this is something that needs to be looked at very favorably.   [Read more...]

There’s a story I did in this week’s issue of India Abroad about the weekend that Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan were in NY, for a variety of events, including a  news conference to promote  next year’s Unforgettable tour.  

As an accompaniment to that story, here’s a brief   one-on-one I had  with the newlyweds  that day at the Mandarin Oriental:

(to Abhishek):   With Yuva, did you feel you’d crossed a Lakshman Rekha of sorts with your work?

Abhishek:   No, I don’t think I crossed anything.   I think I was pushed across a certain threshold due to Mani, the director.   He made me believe that there was something there, by giving me the confidence by giving me such a role to know that after which confidence level started to build up and then you felt that you could be able to take on more challenging work.   So, no.   I feel I can’t give myself credit for that.   I feel credit has to go entirely to Mani.

(to Aishwarya): Do you keep any souvenirs from your films?

Aishwarya:   From some of them.   And what’s been interesting was to discover that Abhishek does as well on all of his films, and we discovered this on Guru.   (laughs)

(to Aishwarya): How?   Did you both want the same item?

Aishwarya:   That’s very special.   We got married onscreen in the film and we retained the rings as well.   That was very, very special.

(to Aishwarya) You worked with Rajiv Menon on Guru and previously on Kandukondain Kandukondain – can you talk about what it’s like  working with him?  

Aishwarya:   Very special.   He’s a very, very dear friend and in fact I had done one of my very early commercials with him and he was amongst the people I’d met in the beginning who were convinced that I’d be in the movies and I never was.  

At that time Mani was making Roja, so he had introduced me to Roja‘s music and to the film, and I was already a fan of Mani’s work, so eventually when it came around to making his first movie in fact Rajiv offered Sapnay to me, and I was unable to do it straight up because he was starting it immediately during the end of my Miss World tenure.   So he made me meet Mani for Iruvar, so he was the bridge who got me to meet Mani.   He said “Go and make this film and I’ll come for the next, and he did for Kandukondain.  

I think it was really wonderful that we all came together to make Guru, a film very close to our hearts and very special for all of us: working with Mani again after my first film, with Rajiv on board, and with Abhishek who was one of my closest friends and colleagues from the industry and, of course, we came together as well.   So, all in all, a very special film.

(to Abhishek):   The death scene with your father in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna is so powerful, especially knowing that you are father and son in real life.   Was it rough to film and do you and your father dissolve into tears watching it since then?

Abhishek:   No.   I think this is one of the dilemmas of being an actor.   We were shooting it here in New York.   I remember there wasn’t much prep done for the scene and I remember Karan was feeling very edgy.   We had to shoot the scene outside of Dad’s room when I break down with Rani, and I remember weirdly enough it came very easily, because there wasn’t much you had to prepare, or work yourself up to.   At the end of the day it was Dad, and just thinking about such a horrendous thing would bring tears to anyone’s eyes.   So shockingly, it was easy to shoot.   It wasn’t easy to deal with, but it was easy to shoot.

And watching it was relatively easy as well because you seem to just disconnect then because it’s something as an actor that you don’t want to invest in after that and I think even when we were doing his shots, which we had to do on a set in Bombay, when you’re partaking in the scene it becomes even that much easier.   It’s a bit weird.   It becomes a bit easier because it is actually your own father that’s lying there in front of you and when you go back and see it on film, you disconnect from it emotionally, because you don’t want to think about it and you want to avoid it.   It’s one of the things we have to deal with.