Aditi Rao Hydari – the Bhoomi I met

I met Aditi before I saw the film at the co-producer T-Series’ office in Lokhandwala. This was one of those delightful days when the sun pushed aside the dark, frowning rain clouds to shine freely on Mumbai. Taking advantage of the brilliant weather, the actress was having lunch by herself in a glass house on the high-rise’s rooftop. Dressed simply in ripped jeans and keds, a white blouse. Graciously, she invited me to join her. I declined. Aditi is a Hyderabadi. Born into two royal lineages. And my idea of Hyderabadi cuisine is that the food city’s saffron-scented biryanis and flavorsome kebabs are marinated and tenderized to the degree that the state’s proverbial toothless Nawabs in their dotage may consume them. She was eating dal-chawal-sabzi out of tiffin from home. Very ladylike, delicate fingers elegantly at work. I sat back to watch her eat.
We talked about her first day on the sets of ‘Bhoomi’ and her first shot with Dutt. In her words, she was feeling butterflies in her stomach and was extremely nervous”. “When Sanju Sir asked gently, ‘You’re nervous?’ I shakily said I was. In response to my nervousness, he laughed and said, ‘Arre, how can you be nervous?’ After doing Mani Ratnam’s super-hit film Kaatru Veliyidai. Look at me – It’s been a long time since I’ve visited a film set!’” A hug followed from Dutt. One of his jadoo ki jhappis. “Suddenly, I felt that everything was going well.” Aditi continued. “When he touched my head, I experienced a great sense of comfort and happiness.”. I lost my father to cancer four years ago, and though our relationships were not so great, I miss him. It was a blessing to have Sanju Sir now play my screen father. It was very convenient and natural to do the father-daughter scenes with him. We didn’t need any rehearsals. It was all impromptu.”
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), which continues to be a bully even after that notorious spoilsport Pahlaj Nihalani was kicked out, removed the crucial rape scene and 13 other violent moments from the film. Aditi reacted sharply, “Films are a reflection of what happens in society. The fact is we are showing a tamed version of reality, and censorship makes us tame it further, but I am clueless about why that happens because children today are watching all kinds of things and they are well aware of all that stuff than everybody. So I’m baffled about what is to be hidden from whom because that is the fact. We are trying to say this doesn’t happen. Sometimes what’s shown in films it is to understand how harsh people are and how girls are treated. And I feel bad that these things are censored because things that should be censored are not censored and things that shouldn’t be censored are!” While exhaling gently, the blush slowly faded from her pale cheeks, eyes flashing, nostrils flaring, as she paused for breath. And that was when I knew I would see ‘Bhoomi’ for this young, new actress Aditi Rao Hydari more than my friend and that old Bollywood warhorse Sanjay Dutt.