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Actress Amaara Sangam, who recently was seen in ‘Murder Mubarak’ as Minu Dimri, a young barista working at a premium and extravagant Delhi club. She spoke with us about first auditioning for the film, and said that it was a no-brainer for her to audition for her role after hearing that the film was a Maddock and Homi Adajania production. Sangam also didn’t know who else was a part of the film until later in the process!
As a newer actor, being a part of such a large ensemble cast might be daunting to some, but Sangam felt incredibly comfortable on set.
“Before going on set and knowing that all of these actors were going to be there … and having known of them off set and meeting them on set .. they were all very respectful, it never felt like I was a new actor.”
Even though Sangam was meeting all of them for the first time, it never felt like she was around big stars that she had to keep a distance from, and was able to gel with them very naturally.
Before stepping into the shoes of acting, Sangam had worked behind the scenes as a casting assistant on films like “Gehraiyaan”, and was used to working directly with established actors, so going into the set of “Murder Mubarak” wasn’t too intimidating for her.
“I find that while it’s very natural for someone like me, who is new and is not in those circles everyday hanging out with them, before I go into a space with so many big stars, to definitely feel a bit intimidated. I would like to think I held myself fairly gracefully, I’m not a big fan of having a fangirl moment and making it feel like I’m a nobody there, I treat myself as an equal and as an actor, and I carried that mindset into the space.”
Sangam’s character of Minu Dimri has quite a few intimate scenes with her co-actor Aashim Gulati, and Sangam shares her experience working with an intimacy coordinator on set, which is becoming more popular in Bollywood.
“I’ve been in spaces where directors ask ‘what is an intimacy coordinator?’, and I’m sort of campaigning for them. Aastha Khanna, who is the first intimacy coordinator in India, who was also the coordinator on this project, is a very close friend. I know that space.”
Before ‘Murder Mubarak’, Sangam had done intimacy for actors workshops, and was aware of the technical aspects of the job, and what to expect, but credits Khanna for creating a comfortable space and environment on set.
As a part of her prep to getting into the skin of her character, Sangam went and spoke with baristas at high-end hotels in Delhi to empathize with Minu and the reasons behind her decisions.
“What sort of backgrounds are we talking about for baristas in India, because it’s very different culturally than in the West (you would work as a barista as a student, which doesn’t really happen here), but the dignity of labor is so different in India, so I wanted to understand the class difference.”
‘Murder Mubarak’ is now streaming on Netflix worldwide.
