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After winning accolades across International Film Festivals, Tabrez Noorani’s upcoming film Love Sonia is now creating waves on digital platforms as well! The most awaited movie is all set to hit theatres on 14th September.
UrbanAsian got chance to interview the talented actresses Mrunal Thakur, Riya Sisodiya and Sai Tamhankar who had fun talking about their movie Love Sonia.
The trio shared some great things about the movie and how difficult was it for them.
Read to know more:
- Can you all tell us about your character in the movie?
Sai Tamhankar: I play Anjali in Love Sonia. Anjali is the FedEx of Love Sonia. She traffics girls from villages and brings them to a brothel in Bombay. Anjali is a person whom you don’t want to be friends with.
Riya Sisodiya: I play Preeti. She is a 14-year-old innocent village girl. She is Sonia’s younger sister and she has this fantasy world around her. And she loves her sister a lot.
Mrunal Thakur: I play Sonia in Love Sonia. She is the one who is naïve, vulnerable and her only aim is to go and find her sister and in the middle of that she is manipulated by the world and she becomes a part of this prostitution business and how she emerges out of it is the story and it ’s a story about her journey.
- What preparations did you all go through for Love Sonia?
Mrunal: We went to a red light area in Kolkata and we spent a lot of time with the girls out there. They are full of life, smiling but you don’t know the fact that behind their smile so many bad incidents they have been through. A lot of guys abuse a girl by calling her a whore or a prostitute but he doesn’t know what has made them where they are and what they have been through. So I think after meeting these girls my respect has increased tremendously. So in this film, you will also see a special bond between 2 sisters.
The preparation was not just limited to going through the red light areas but we also went to a farmer’s house. We studied how they cultivate crops. Apart from this we also did a lot of researches. Watched a lot of documentaries.
Riya: The costume designer Shahid, he dipped our clothes in a tea water for a month to look old and worn out.
Sai: Even for makeup, we were told not to cut our nails, not to do eyebrows, not to wax. Not to put lip balms also. We used to beg for lip balms as our lips used to dry. We used to beg for chappals. I remember Mrunal was told not to do her eyebrows for 5 months.
- How did you all dwell yourself in the character?
Sai: It was difficult to trust me. These kind of subjects are not everyday subjects and it is not a movie where you see songs, where you see people smiling, dancing, nothing of that sorts. So the atmosphere on the sets was also quite intense, serious but we had all our fun in our own ways and I want as many people as possible to watch this film. This film has to reach out to everyone because it is an important film.
- As they say “Too Many Cooks Spoil A Broth”, so there are too many great actors in this movie, anytime when there was any kind of disagreements?
Mrunal: I did have a disagreement with the director like why would Sonia not to this, why would she not do that and he was like Mrunal how many questions do you ask. But somethings actually got him thinking. So it is important to have a disagreement. I think when there is a disagreement then the product turns out to be good. So I am sorry Tabrez I asked you so many questions. (laughs)
Sai: But then here we have only one cook, our director Tabrez and we all are very different dishes, so I think it has only increased the flavors and it has only made the entire plate very very interesting. (laughs)
- Since this is Mrunal and Riya’s debut film, any tips that you got from Richa, Sai or other actors in this movie?
Riya: Yes! Firstly, these guys are so down to earth. When I saw Sai for the first time, I am looking at her and talking to myself I have seen her in Hunterrr, such a good actress and now she is standing next to me and the way she is acting and she was so sweet to me, even now. Even Richa was. I was the youngest one on set. So they all pamper me a lot. And this is like my first movie so they treat me like a kid and help me out. Even for interviews, they are helping me a lot. So I have learned a lot from all of them. Adil sir (Adil Hussain) taught me few breathing exercises before performing any scenes and it actually helped me in dubbing.
Mrunal: If you ask me, I would tell you the fact that I believe in the power of observation. You do not just learn while performing scenes but you also learn from behind the scenes and the way the actors were behaving behind the scene was something very fascinating for me. And of course, performing in front of such great actors was a mesmerizing moment for me. I wanted to know what is that X-factor that each and every actor has.
- What’s after Love Sonia?
Sai: Success parties. (all laugh) Lot of celebrations because we have to wait for this movie to come out.
Mrunal: I think the number of girls would be saved after watching the film, I am waiting for that.
Directed by Tabrez Noorani, Love Sonia is the story of a young girl who gets trapped in the dark and ugly world of global sex trade.
Love Sonia has a strong ensemble cast including Freida Pinto, Manoj Bajpayee, Rajkummar Rao, Richa Chadha, Anupam Kher, Adil Hussain, Sai Tamhankar, Sunny Parwar, Demi Moore, Mark Duplass, Noorani is introducing Mrunal Thakur as well as Riya Sisodiya.
Tamasha Talkies and Samraaj Talkies in association with India Take One Productions, Cinemantra Entertainment, and Media & Dynasty Consulting Group present Love Sonia. The film is Tabrez Noorani’s directorial debut, produced by the Academy Award-nominated producer of Life of Pi, David Womark and Tabrez Noorani. Co-produced by Amar Butala and Executive Producers include Shalini Thackeray, Deepak Nayar, and Pravesh Sahni. The Dynasty Consulting Group was instrumental in setting up the movie. Zee Studios will release the film in India. Love Sonia releases on 14th September 2018.
