‘How Did Nehru End Up As PM?’

‘About
whether
I’m
worried
it
will
blow
up
into
something,
no,
I’m
used
to
these
things.’
‘I
am
a
voice
in
the
city
and
have
said
quite
a
few
things
that
may
have
ruffled
feathers.
But
I
stuck
with
them
because
it’s
your
truth.’

Malishka
Mendonsa
aka

RJ
Malishka
gets
into
the
big
shoes
of
Sarojini
Naidu
in
Nikkhil
Advani’s
ambitious
Web
series,

Freedom
At
Midnight,
and
points
outs
that
there
were
some
similarities.

“I
think
when
I
got
into
the
getup,
I
really
looked
like
her.
Of
course,
there
was
prep
work
too.
She
had
a
huge
laugh,
which
I
do
as
well,”
Malishka
tells

Patcy
N/Rediff.com.

How
did
you
land
the
role
of
Sarojini
Naidu?

Shortly
after
I
did
a
short
film
called

Parde
Mein
Rehne
Do,
I
got
a
call
from
(Casting
Director)
Kavish
Sinha’s
office.
They
said

Freedom
At
Midnight
is
coming
up
and
that
there’s
a
role
for
Sarojini
Naidu,
and
we
think
you
would
fit
it.

I
asked
why.

They
gave
me
a
15
to
20
minute
character
sketch
of
Sarojini
Naidu,
which
I
listened
to
and
said
yes.

I
went
to
Kavish’s
office,
dressed
in
my
mother’s
sari,
doing
my
hair
up
the
way
she
did,
and
the

bindi.

I
had
played
her
as
a
child,
when
we
had
to
dress
up
as
freedom
fighters.
There
weren’t
that
many
women
we
could
portray,
even
though
women
were
a
huge
part
of
the
freedom
struggle.

Sarojini
Naidu
was
a
prolific
writer,
a
poetess.
She
sat
with
the
who’s
who
of
society
and
held
her
own.

When
they
told
me
all
this,
she
sounded
like
a
modern
woman
but
in
that
era.

When
I
asked
Nikkhil
Advani
when
he
cast
me,
he
said
because
I’ve
been
on
radio
for
so
many
years
and
Malishka
has
been
a
disruptor,
and
Sarojini
Naidu
was
a
disruptor.

I
think
when
I
got
into
the
getup,
I
really
looked
like
her.
Of
course,
there
was
prep
work
too.

She
had
a
huge
laugh,
which
I
do
as
well.

She
was
4’8″.

How
did
you
prepare
for
the
role?

How
much
time
would
it
take
to
put
on
the
prosthetic
make-up?

Were
you
worried
that
you
may
get
it
wrong
and
land
in
controversy
since
everyone
has
become
so
sensitive
these
days?

I
was
not
worried
to
play
this
character
because
it
might
be
misconstrued.

I
think
I
might
be
the
only
who
has
portrayed
Sarojini
Naidu
at
such
a
large
extent
because
we
haven’t
seen
too
much
of
our
women
freedom
fighters.

There
was
a
little
fear
of
whether
I
would
do
justice
to
the
character
but
since
I’ve
stuck
to
the
brief
as
much
as
possible,
and
my
director
has
approved
of
most
of
it,
there’s
no
worry.

About
whether
I’m
worried
it
will
blow
up
into
something,
no,
I’m
used
to
these
things.
I
am
a
voice
in
the
city
and
have
said
quite
a
few
things
that
may
have
ruffled
feathers.
But
I
stuck
with
them
because
it’s
your
truth.

Did
you
ever
worry
that
the
show
may
land
in
controversy
due
to
the
sensitive
political
climate
that
we
have
now?

This
is
a
question
for
Nikkhil.
But
from
what
I’ve
heard
from
him,
I
don’t
think
actors
need
to
think
in
this
framework.
We’re
presenting
the
story
of
our
history,
it’s
how
India
came
to
be
India,
the
structures
behind
it,
the
closed
door
negotiations,
how
our
leaders
came
to
a
conclusion…
Beyond
the
controversy,
there
are
so
many
things
you
don’t
know.

Like,
why
was
August
15
chosen
to
be
the
date
when
we
would
get
independence?

Sarojini
is
very
tongue-in-cheek
and
speaks
her
mind,
so
she
refers
to
it
at
one
point
in
the
show.

How
was
the
line
of
Partition
drawn?

How
did
Pandit
Nehru
end
up
being
the
prime
minister
of
the
country?

There
are
so
many
things
we
don’t
know.

How
is
it
working
with
Nikkhil
Advani?

Nikkhil
is
brave.

I’ve
known
him
as
the
director
of
so
many
wonderful
films,

Kal
Ho
Naa
Ho
being
the
most
important
one.

I
met
him
many
years
ago.
The
first
impression
I
got
is
that
the
man
is
prepared.
He’s
prepared
enough
to
be
self-assured
at
this
point.

This
is
not
an
easy
thing
to
make.
It’s
a
period
show,
where
you’re
showing
Partition.
You’re
showing
different
cities,
different
countries.

On
set,
we
were
always
on
our
toes.
Nikkhil
knows
exactly
what
he
wants.

He
gives
his
actors
a
free
reign.
He
will
explain
to
you
and
then
will
leave
you
to
your
own
devices.

When
I
saw
the
trailer,
I
had
tears
in
my
eyes.

I
wrote
to
Nikkhil
saying,
I
hope
you’re
very
proud
of
what
you
have
made,
even
before
seeing
the
whole
show.

I
think
he’ll
be
very
proud
of
putting
something
like
this
out
in
the
universe.
What
a
poignant
thing
to
make
and
what
an
amazing
time
to
do
it!

There
were
a
lot
of
versatile
actors
who
worked
on
this
project,
like
Arif
Zakaria,
Chirag
Vora,
Siddhant
Gupta,
Rajendra
Chawla
and
Ira
Dubey.
What
did
you
learn
from
them?

One
of
the
things
I
definitely
learnt
is
no
matter
how
intense
a
set
is,
if
you
have
a
group
of
actors
that
know
their
job
and
are
able
to
bring
a
team
together,
you’re
in
good
hands.

We
had
a
lot
of
fun
off
set.

Sometimes
even
when
we
were
in
character
because
there
would
be
long
waiting
hours.

You
learn
how
to
be
at
ease,
you
learn
how
to
be
better.

You
learn
the
give
and
take
of
acting,
especially
if
there’s
a
good
actor
who
knows
what
he’s
doing.

The
biggest
learning
is
that
you
can’t
get
tired
in
this
profession.

You
see
the
glamour
but
not
the
hard
work
because
between
action
and
cut,
there
is
that
whole
universe…

You
could
have
done
a
two-minute
take
or
a
30-second
take
but
you
may
have
to
wait
for
20
minutes,
an
hour
or
six
hours
before
your
next
shot
is
up.

How
to
navigate
that
universe
while
still
staying
buoyant,
while
still
staying
happy,
while
still
staying
in
your
character…
if
you
are
chatting
and
your
director
calls
and
suddenly
there’s
an
intense
scene,
how
to
be
able
to
get
into
that.

I
learned
about
how
you
can
cultivate
new
friends
when
it’s
a
nice,
secure
environment
and
everyone
knows
what
they’re
doing.