Hydrophobic - Lara Dutta

I Was Hydrophobic - Lara Dutta

Tagged: Lara Dutta, Billu Barber, Bollywood, Irrfan Khan, AsianOutlook, Shah Rukh Khan, Eros International
Lara Dutta the talented Bollywood beauty with brains once was crowned Miss Universe back 2000 before entering the Hindi Film Industry. The glamorous actress who is holding a degree in Economics is known for her sense of humour and apart from acting has a talent for writing too. The author met her last Friday, while she was promoting her latest release 'Billu (Barber)' at a press junket in central London and chatted with her about her transformation from the glamorous Miss Universe to the plain village beauty Bindiya in 'Billu (Barber)' and also about what and who had turned her from being hydrophobic to become a deep-see diver.

Exclusive Interview with Larra Dutta:

Q: How do you feel after the release of Billu (Barber)?

Lara: It's great it's been my first release after a year, my last release was 'Partner' with Salman (Khan) and this is fabulous. I didn't think that Billu would be the first one to release. I think it's a good wholesome family entertainer and it's nice to begin the year with something like this.

Q: There have been comments before your role in Billu would just be minuscule but I didn't had the impression, I think yours was a very important role and you also had a lot of screen time in Billu. What is your take on that people are just coming up with things like that?

Lara: You know in India actresses, maybe also because your career span is much shorter then that of men, I think girls get scared of a role because they might get to look older then their age. I'm also not a mother of two children, but I'm an actor it does not mean you have to go through the whole experience to know how is it to be a mother. For me personally I never note in my career to say 'oh this I will not do that now I will do it when I'm 35' and things like that. As an actor you get the opportunity to grow with every role that you play and if you are able to portray it as real, when your audience can feel 'oh yes that is that kind of character' that's your job as an actor. For me to really do Billu was never a second thought. I never thought oh should I, should I not do it, I don't know why.

In terms of the role, the role did grow through the film and for this I really have to thank Shah Rukh because when he asked me to do it he said very clearly right from the beginning 'you know the role is not a Hindi film heroine role' but he would really make an effort to make sure the character wouldn't get lost in the narrative. While we where making the story we realised that Billu's story is really about the story of his family, so the husband, wife and the two kids became such an important part of the story. They became the centre of the story. So we have built scenes from there to enhance the character of Billu.

Q: So did you change the script while shooting?

Lara: No not the scenes in the film but the dialogues, the involvement of the character we developed.

Q: I also found it interesting that the characters of Billu and Bindiya are completely different.

Lara: Yes he is quite and intense and she is pushy. She is like every woman. We like it when we have the attention and everyone wants to be around us we like it.

It's also the first time Irrfan and I worked together and normally it's a very unlikely paring. I'm a more glamorous actress and Irrfan is an intense actor and so everybody was thinking how can they be husband and wife, but that's what also worked on screen.

And also the story is not about falling in love for the first time it is not that we are young married, we've got two grown up kids and the relationship is on a mature level. But there is still so much of love so there is a lot of give and take, she kind of dons him, sometimes pushes him, eggs him on and he loves her for all of that, it's really sweet.

Q: Do you have a favourite scene in Billu (Barber)?

Lara: I do and you know I really hope Shah Rukh will put it back into the movie, because actually the scene is not in the movie, they cut it out.

So it's a really sweet and simple scene, which both Irrfan and I really wanted to have in the film. The film is very simple and sweet and a film always needs to have strong and emotional moments in it. The comedy is something you laugh at but it's the emotional moments that are going to get you. There was a lovely scene where I, for to pay my kids school fees, sell my mangalsutre, so she takes it of and gives it to him and says 'loan on it for what ever money you get to pay the children school fees' and he says 'but it's the only thing that you have' and she says 'yes but its ok if we have money you bring it back and then you can put it back on me' and he says 'yes but that will mean we would be marrying twice' and she says 'yes but the first time wasn't so great so maybe the second time will'. It's a very sweet scene, but they took it out.

Q: Big parts of the movie have been shot in that village Pollachi, so it's quite a rural area...

Lara: Very rural!

Q: How did you accommodate yourself there?

Lara: It was very beautiful to shoot in Pollachi and it was very difficult to shoot in Pollachi, its so because there is really no infrastructure, there is really nothing. A lot of times it was even difficult to get to the location, we could not go by car we had to go by tractor. So just to get into the places with your sari and everything I think it was just like really difficult. Also the whole crew and the equipment it was really difficult.

It looks beautiful and I think the director of photography has done a fabulous job it looks great on screen but it was difficult to shoot there. And in a way it was really exciting because it was life imitating art while we were in this village it was exactly like the story of the movie so we had literally Shah Rukh Khan in that village. It was amazing. For these people it was the first time they had such a star there and then we showed that in the movie, so it was fantastic shooting there. I wouldn't do it in a hurry again though.

Q: So what are your further projects this year?

Lara: This year is a busy year for me. Last year I didn't had a release because I was making all those movies. So it started with Billu (Barber), then a comedy called 'Do not disturb' with director David Dhawan for the second time after 'Partner'. Then with Ravi Chopra another film called 'Band Yeh Bindaas Hain'.

Then I have India's first under water action adventure film called 'Blue' with Akshay Kumar and Sanjay Dutt (director Anthony D'Souza).
So there is a mixture of all, there is comedy, there is action and there is drama.

Q: Is it true you had to learn diving for 'Blue'?

Lara: Yes, I learned how to swim and to dive it was exhilarating! Unbelievable! I mean I cannot believe that I went so long in my live to do this.

Q: You've never dived before?

Lara: I didn't know how to swim. I learned to swim and then to dive for this movie. You can put it this way I was hydrophobic. I prepared for about 6 months before 'Blue'. Then it was amazing because we've shot in the Bahamas for a month and we shot in Pukhet for a month and now we will be shooting for another month and the movie will com out in August or September.

Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you.

Billu (Barber) is out now in the theatres worldwide.

Produced by Gauri Khan
Directed by Priyadashan
Music Pritam

Lyrics Gulzar and Sayeed Quadri

Cast
Irrfan Khan as Billu Barber
Lara Dutta as Bindiya
Om Puri as Damchand
Raypal Yadav as Jhallan Kumar
Manoj Joshi as Damodar Dubey
Asrani as Nobat Chacha
Mitali Mayakar as Billu's daughter
Pratik Dalvi as Billu's son
Jagdish as Madan
Rasika Joshi as Mrs Gahalot
and
Shah Rukh Khan as Sahir Khan

Distributor
Eros International

Synopsis:
Billu Barber is a story of a simple ordinary man who led an extra ordinary life.

Bilas Rao Pardesi was living in his village with his wife Bindiya and two great kids. Life was bitter sweet...we can say more sweet than bitter. One day a superstar came into their lives and everything changed. Life changed, people changed, friends changed, the village changed but one man did not...Billu Barber.

Will this ordinary man redefine the words ordinary? Will the world see the greatness behind his small existence? And most of all, will life ever be the same for Billu Barber again?

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