Entertainment

IIE DIGITAL: Legendary filmmaker Shyam Benegal was known for his distinctive storytelling and his ability to bring out powerful performances from actors. During his illustrious career, several performers aspired to be part of his films, though only a select few often matched the image he envisioned for his leading roles.

Veteran actress Soni Razdan recently opened up about her desire to work with Benegal and the lengths she went to in order to fit the kind of roles he was known for casting. In a conversation with The Indian Express SCREEN, Razdan revealed that she even changed her appearance in the hope of being considered for one of his films.

Recalling the filmmaker’s preference for actresses like Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil, Razdan said she felt she did not fit the familiar “prototype” associated with Benegal’s heroines. She shared that she tried to transform her look by dyeing her hair black and adopting a more traditional style with cotton saris and silver jewellery.

“I did everything I could, but he didn’t look at me the same way,” Razdan recalled by adding that despite her efforts, she accepted that it was simply not meant to be at that time.

However, her dream of working with Benegal eventually came true. Razdan featured in his acclaimed film Mandi, which explored the lives of people connected to a brothel and featured a celebrated ensemble cast including Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Ratna Pathak Shah, Neena Gupta and others. She later appeared in Benegal’s Trikaal.

Talking about her experience working with the filmmaker, Razdan described the process as a memorable one by saying the actors would eagerly wait for Benegal’s decisions on how each character would be placed within the story.

On the work front, Soni Razdan was recently seen in Songs of Paradise and also appeared in the OTT series Brown, where she portrayed the character of Janice Brown.