‘I Found It Very, Very Challenging To Step Away From Inaaya’

‘It’s
been
seven
years
since
I
did
a
movie.
Now,
I’m
back.’

Soha
Ali
Khan
gets
to
play
a
scary
antagonist
for
the
first
time
in
her
career,
and
she’s
loving
it.

“To
play
an
antagonist
in
a
horror
is
not
something
I’ve
done
before,”
Soha
tells

Subhash
K
Jha.

What
brings
you
back
to
the
screen?

What
brings
me
back
to
the
screen
is
just
the
idea
of
being
presented
in
such
a
wonderful
way
as
Daasi
Ma.
To
play
an
antagonist
in
a
horror
is
not
something
I’ve
done
before.

I
thought
it
would
be
a
nice
challenge
to
step
out
of
my
comfort
zone,
to
wear
completely
new
costumes,
lenses,
VFX,
prosthetics,
a
different
style
of
walking,
a
different
way
of
talking
with
some
investment
into
diction
classes
and
working
on
an
accent,
smoking
a
hookah…

Also,
I
have
enjoyed
watching
horrors
but
have
never
actually
been
in
one.

Now
that
your
daughter
is
somewhat
older,
do
you
have
the
time
and
inclination
to
resume
your
acting
career?

Yes,
I
definitely
have
the
time.

I
think
I
always
had
the
time.
I
just
didn’t
want
to
make
the
time
because
I
found
it
very,
very
challenging
to
step
away
from
her.
I
wanted
to
be
there
for
the
many
milestones
that
happen
in
the
first
few
years
of
your
child
growing
up.

And
I
really
wanted
to
be
present
for
her
and
be
involved
in
raising
her.

Now
she’s
seven
and
in
school
for
most
of
the
day.

She
has
an
active
social
life
and
it’s
never
as
if
she
really
needed
me.

I
needed
her
and
now
I
think
that
I’m
comfortable
stepping
away
from
her
a
little
bit
and
taking
on
more
work.

You
said
you
enjoy
watching
horror
films.

Yes,
but
I
feel
like
the
older
I
get
and
certainly
after
becoming
a
parent,
my
appetite
to
consume
horror
has
gone
down.

I
feel
very
sensitive,
especially
to
the
sound
in
a
horror
film.

It
makes
me
very
uncomfortable
but
I
still
enjoy
it.

I
guess
it’s
like
a
kind
of
adrenaline
rush.

I
don’t
enjoy
roller
coasters
but
I
still
sometimes
make
myself
do
it
because
there’s
a
high
you
get
out
of
it.

So
I
enjoy
the
sensation
of
the
anticipation
of
fear
or
something
that
might
happen.

I
have
seen
lots
of
horrors,
whether
it’s

Psycho,
The
Shining,
Stephen
King
novels
that
have
been
turned
into
films…

Then,
there’s

Insidious
or

Conjuring
or

The
Exorcism
of
Emily
Rose
or

The
Exorcist.

Within
Hindi
cinema,
some
of
my
favourites
have
been

100
Days,
which
is
one
of
the
first
Hindi
horror
films
I
saw.
Then,

Bhoot,
Darna
Mana
Hai…

I’m
glad
to
see
that
horror
is
making
a
comeback,
in
terms
of
pure
horror
and
not
a
mixed
genre.

Was
it
tough
to
be
scary?

No,
not
really.
I
think
all
of
us
have
a
darker
side
to
our
personalities
and
I
enjoyed
exploring
that.

What
happens
with
horror
is
that
you
get
so
much
support
from
sound,
costume,
cinematography,
lighting…
and,
of
course,
the
script.

What
was
difficult
were
things
like
the
diction
and
the
body
mannerisms
because
Daasi
Ma
is
rougher
than
I
am.

Her
moral
fabric
is
completely
alien
to
me.
So
to
be
convinced
or
empathetic
towards
this
character
was
a
challenge
for
me.

But
being
scary
not
so
much
because
honestly,
I
just
put
myself
in
my
director’s
hands.
He
had
a
particular
vision
of
what
this
character
looked
like,
he
told
me
what
to
do
with
my
face
in
terms
of
contorting
my
face
and
I
did.

The
rest
was
teamwork
from
makeup,
costume,
effects.

Should
we
consider
this
as
a
new
beginning
for
you?

I
don’t
know
if
you
should
consider
it
a
new
beginning.
I
mean,
I
did
two
shows
after
becoming
a
parent.

I
feel
my
work,
my
career
has
always
been
a
part
of
my
life.

Just
because
I’m
not
so
visible
on
screen
doesn’t
mean
you’ve
gone
away.
You’re
just
doing
something
else.

I
know
it’s
been
seven
years
since
Idid
a
movie
so
in
that
sense,
I
suppose
I
did
go
away.
Now,
I’m
back.

But
I
did
do
two
shows
in
the
interim,

Hush
Hush
and

Kaun
Banegi
Shikharwati.

I
have
done
another
film.
The
shoot
is
complete
and
it
should
release
later
this
year.

Was
it
tough
for
you
to
balance
your
responsibilities
as
a
homemaker
with
your
career,
and
do
you
feel
you
can
pull
it
off?

I
think
women
are
good
at
multitasking.

We
have
to
play
many
roles
and
wear
many
hats,
whether
it’s
daughters,
mothers,
siblings,
daughters-in-law,
professionals,
homemakers…
there’s
a
lot
going
on
all
the
time.

What
we
do
need
to
learn
is
delegate.

I
am
one
of
those
women
who
likes
to
be
everywhere
at
one
time
and
make
everyone
happy
but
that
is
impossible
to
do.
So
it
is
important
to
have
a
supportive
community
around
you,
professionals
like
my
nanny
who
is
so
intrinsic
to
me
achieving
my
dreams
because
she
looks
after
my
child
when
I
can’t
be
there.

We
should
lean
on
that
when
we
can
because
it
is
impossible
to
be
everywhere
at
once
and
do
everything
perfectly.

Women
generally
need
not
be
so
hard
on
themselves.
We
don’t
always
have
to
be
perfectionists.

I
think
the
idea
is,
especially
if
we
have
to
be
in
the
workplace,
the
idea
is
to
delegate
and
to
rely
on
other
people
who
can
be
there
to
help
you
at
home.

Recently,
there
was
an

awful
incident
in
your
brother
Saif
Ali
Khan’s
life.
What
has
that
told
you
about
the
safety
of
the
family?
How
can
celebrities
avoid
being
easy
targets?

Alert

toh
hum
hai
hi,
kabhi
kabhi
aisi
cheezain
ho
jaati
hai,
which
are
very
unfortunate.

I
think
the
sense
of
feeling
now
is
very
blessed,

ki
aur
bura
nahi
hua,
joh
hua
uss
hadd
tak
hi
hua,
and
everyone
is
fine.