Indian actress Aditi Rao Hydari has a bone to pick with all those writers who tend to write women’s parts, reducing them to hapless victims in the face of any tragedy. When we met her at a hotel suite in Dubai, the star had her back against a massive vertical roll-up of her series ‘Taj: Divided By Blood,’ out on Zee5 Global now.
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Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/bollywood/watch-bollywood-actress-aditi-rao-hydari-challenges-stereotypes-in-indian-cinema-1.1694703838427
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #Bollywood #AditiRaoHydari
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good afternoon, this is Manjusha Radhakrishnan from Gulf News and I'm here with the gorgeous
00:13and very talented Aditi Rao Hyderi.
00:16She claims she wants to be an Audrey Hepburn in a sea of, let's say, Kim Kardashian's.
00:21I love it.
00:22I'm going to put that on a poster, Aditi, and walk around.
00:24It really resonated with me, I must say.
00:26And you're true.
00:27You're the epitome of grace.
00:28I can never see you get into a, let's say, a fight, a really nasty fight.
00:33Oh my God, I don't like it at all.
00:35Yeah.
00:36If I see it happening, I'll just, like, first of all, I'll try and sort it out.
00:41And if it's getting very undignified, I will just exit.
00:43Right, right.
00:44I can't bear it.
00:45Okay, no confrontations for you.
00:47No, no.
00:48That's not something you...
00:49I think that if you want to say something, say it nicely.
00:51Or don't say it at all.
00:53No, say it.
00:54Like, because if something is wrong or if something is bothering you, I think it's really
00:58important to say it.
00:59Like, people think I'm very diplomatic or, like, that I'm non-confrontational or whatever.
01:03But I really do say what it is that I want to say.
01:06But I will not say it in a way that it hurts somebody or makes somebody feel, like, vermin.
01:11Right.
01:12So, I'll say it.
01:13So, you're very careful with what you do as well.
01:15Yeah, because I don't want to hurt anybody.
01:17And I want them to hear me out.
01:19So if I say it in a bad way, they're not going to listen to me.
01:21Very true.
01:22I might as well say it nicely.
01:23Well done.
01:24No wonder.
01:25I think this is your secret of, like, surviving for more than a decade.
01:26It is, right?
01:28I'm one of my makeup artists.
01:29Yes.
01:30Listen, you get away with so much.
01:31Yeah, you can say this.
01:32With the things that you say and nobody even minds.
01:33They are still smiling at you.
01:34I'm like...
01:35But...
01:36Because I didn't make them feel like shit.
01:37I just told them what the truth is.
01:38Yeah, you give the truth serum in a very nice way.
01:40I love that.
01:41But I think...
01:42This is my superpower, I think.
01:44Is that your superpower?
01:45I must be.
01:46Being very brutal but very sweet.
01:47I'm like, sometimes when I think about it, I'm like, yeah, must be.
01:49No, but you've survived so well.
01:51Well done, you.
01:52You have reinvented yourself.
01:53I feel...
01:54You know, you're constantly trying.
01:56You're trying on...
01:58You know, there was a time when there was period dramas happening a lot in your life
02:00and then you tried to graduate to other roles as well, right?
02:03So was that deliberate on your part?
02:05Didn't want to be pitch and cold.
02:06You know, honestly, I think every actor at some point gets put into some kind of box
02:09and that's natural, right?
02:12Whatever is working or whatever people think they like or directors think, like, this is
02:16the way to cast the person.
02:18But I think it's also up to us to, if we want to do other things, to then say, okay, box
02:24is getting tight.
02:25I want to do something else.
02:27So when I started, like, with Yeh Saale Zindagi and all, it was the sweet girl next door.
02:32Yes.
02:33But then it moved to, say, whatever, like, hectic love stories and then now it's period
02:39dramas.
02:40But you keep, like...
02:42Jostling for space?
02:43No, no, more than jostling for space, you keep saying, okay, now this is getting claustrophobic
02:48and now I want to do something else.
02:50Having said that, I do also savour those little boxes because somewhere it feels great to
02:58be loved or to be told that you're good at something that you do and, you know, why not
03:06embrace it?
03:08So I do embrace it.
03:09I have learned to do that.
03:10Like, earlier I used to say, oh, it's the box is getting too tight, but today I embrace
03:14it and I love it and I'm grateful for it, but I will also do something else.
03:18But not to prove a point, like, I'm not that person, I will not do it to shut somebody
03:22up or prove a point.
03:23I'll do it because a really great director came to me and said that this is a story I
03:30have for you and it was so exciting because that person sees me in a way that possibly
03:39I have also never seen myself and that becomes the challenge.
03:42So it's the thing of, okay, this director who I really love and respect has this vision
03:47for me and so I will do it.
03:50And I like to work that way, you know, because that's when it makes sense and that's when
03:55it seems more truthful to me rather than saying, I'll prove everyone wrong, because that's
04:00just fighting, you know, and I like to do it all piyaar se.
04:05Oh, I love it.
04:06I love it.
04:07I mean, do it, but do it in a way that's not aggressive.
04:08And also do it with the right person.
04:10That's true.
04:11With all your directors, I thought, I was just looking at your catalogue of directors
04:13you've worked with.
04:15From Mani Ratnam to now Sanjay Leela Bansali, perhaps you are working with like A-listers.
04:20Do they choose you or do you manifest it and say, you know what, I want to work with these
04:25guys.
04:26This is my checklist and I have a countdown app for it.
04:28I don't, you know, I mean, I think I've spoken to you enough.
04:31I don't have no countdowns, but I do have dreams.
04:35And of course I have subconscious lists or whatever, like, you know, like checklists.
04:42But I do believe in dreams and that's because of Mani Sir, because growing up, I had a one
04:49point agenda, even though I didn't grow up watching too many movies and cinema wasn't
04:54so much a part of my life.
04:56But I saw Mani Sir's, some of his films and I was like, I want to be a Mani Ratnam heroine.
05:02Of course.
05:03And that was my one point agenda.
05:05And so when that happened to me, I was like, okay, it is, I mean, it's so important to
05:10believe in your dreams and to believe in almost the naivety of your dreams because
05:16those are the truest, you know, and possibly the universe conspires and makes it happen
05:22as the great SRK said.
05:27And so I think that's how I function.
05:29And when you talk about directors, I am a director's baby and I really love the feeling
05:37of being on a set, you know, which is a combination of challenge and nurture.
05:41And that can only come, you know, with a great director.
05:45When I say great director, I'm not saying they have to have like many, many, many years
05:49of experience.
05:50Sometimes even a new director can be really inspiring.
05:52Very true.
05:53So I am a director's baby.
05:55I love to be on set and absorb.
05:59And I think directors choose you, right?
06:02Because they believe that you can be a part of their vision.
06:05I mean, I hope for it and I like pray very hard that it will happen, but ultimately they
06:10choose you.
06:11And I'm always grateful to be able to, you know, live out the vision that they have,
06:18you know, created for me.
06:21And I enjoy that process and whether it's great directors or DOPs or art directors or,
06:27you know, costume or whatever, all aesthetic and artistic things.
06:31I love to just be on set and keep watching and learning.
06:35So for you, the lure of cinema hasn't dimmed?
06:37Not at all.
06:38Oh my God.
06:39You're still like, do you go on set?
06:40I'm a five year old on a set.
06:42I'm just like always like watching, learning.
06:47And I love that because there is so much to learn every day.
06:51You can learn something and it's so exciting.
06:54And I have no qualms in like setting, helping the art people set up or, you know, or, you
07:01know, helping costume or doing a tack myself because I never knew how to sew.
07:08But I've learned little, little things on set, just by being on set.
07:12I think like practical things are so important on a set because it takes a lot to get that
07:17scene done.
07:18And so you're one with them, is it?
07:20Yeah, I love it.
07:22I really enjoy it.
07:24I always call myself Proud Diana, I'm a Manisa AD because I just sit on set and I keep like
07:30learning things and doing things.
07:31You've got a great mentor too.
07:32And they're like, you're not an AD, you're a heroine.
07:35So you don't have any of those tantrums that we hear so famously about having certain,
07:40like let's say, eight yellow colored M&Ms in a bowl as opposed to the rest of it, etc.
07:46No such demands or just having, what is it called, Hello Kitty wallpaper in the room
07:50when I enter.
07:51What?
07:52Yeah.
07:53No.
07:54That's Mariah Carey.
07:55Really?
07:56Yeah, she loves it.
07:57Who?
07:58Mariah Carey.
08:00I thought there was a rock band who says only yellow M&Ms.
08:02You know, I have to say, I do like good aesthetics around me.
08:06I find it difficult to be like, say, suppose, you know, but I mean, I don't throw tantrums
08:11about it.
08:12But if I'm spending long periods on a set in a van, because you are going in and out
08:17of it, that's your home, right?
08:18Right.
08:19I do like it to be aesthetic.
08:21And when I say aesthetic, it can even be simple, but it needs to be like, tidy and clean.
08:25Fair enough.
08:26So I do have these things.
08:27That's it.
08:28Tantrums are a waste of time.
08:30There's no point.
08:31Like I said, just say it nicely.
08:32They'll understand.
08:33I love it how you say it.
08:34And I always tell people, I was like, listen, look at it from my point of view.
08:37I'm spending like 55 days in this place.
08:40It's practically your home.
08:41It's my home.
08:42Yeah.
08:43So can we just keep it clean?
08:44Thanks a lot.
08:45Okay.
08:46And they understand.
08:47They do understand because it's like, they just, it's empathy, right?
08:50Right.
08:51Sometimes people forget because they're very busy doing what they do and if you just explain
08:53to them, they understand.
08:54So yeah, no tantrums.
08:55Right.
08:56But.
08:57Yeah.
08:58I mean, especially with OTT.
08:59Aesthetics.
09:00Aesthetics is very important.
09:01Very important.
09:02I like it.
09:03I also love how women characters have evolved over time.
09:04Now with, I don't know, with OTT spaces, I love how women characters are being written.
09:08Can I just say as a Manisa fan girl.
09:11Yes.
09:12You still love me.
09:13Yes.
09:14Tell me.
09:15Like people like Manisa and so many great directors were creating incredible female
09:20characters.
09:21True.
09:22Like, you know, Sathuparno Ghosh, Mrinal Sen, Satyajit Ray.
09:27Yes.
09:28I mean.
09:29But now it's more in your face.
09:30Come on.
09:31Even women.
09:32No, they were doing it.
09:33Maybe in the middle there was a period.
09:34Not with as much regularity, I would say.
09:35Like right now, if you look at it, any OTT series, come on, has a very strong, usually
09:40women led.
09:41I just feel it's a great time to be.
09:42Okay.
09:43I would say that maybe, maybe just before this time.
09:45Yes.
09:46There was a bit of an issue.
09:47Lul.
09:48Yeah.
09:49Because I would say like, in the earlier days, there were some incredible films and
09:52they were literally written for women, you know.
09:56But I would say that there was possibly a bit of a lean period.
10:01And today it is different.
10:02Yes.
10:03And I think it's also, it's not just the platforms.
10:07It is also the fact that there are so many different kinds of people coming into the
10:10film industry from different backgrounds, telling different kinds of stories.
10:15And also, I would say for anybody to, I think for, there are risk takers.
10:24And when I say risk takers, I say only a visionary can be a risk taker.
10:28Like if you really want to tell the story that you want to tell, it could be about a
10:33puppy.
10:35It could be about, you know, grandparents.
10:38It could be about a woman, a young woman, an older woman.
10:46It could be about a man.
10:48Because we don't use the word, hero-centric story.
10:52We just say, this is a film, you know.
10:54Yes.
10:55Yes.
10:56But even terms like, this is heroine-centric, I'm like, why are we using these terms?
11:01I feel that these terms should go.
11:03Labels should go.
11:04These labels should go.
11:05It's a story.
11:06And it happens to be about X, Y, Z.
11:08Yes.
11:09So I think that is the change that needs to happen because there's such a conscious thing.
11:14And I understand where it comes from.
11:15It comes from that lean period.
11:16So there is a need to constantly push.
11:19But I would, I'm hoping for a time where we are not basing everything on gender.
11:25This is a female director.
11:27This is a female-centric story.
11:28It should not be like that.
11:29Ideally.
11:30Yes, ideally.
11:31In an ideal world, of course, gender agnostic world.
11:33But I guess this is a time to push and push for it.
11:36But I do believe it has a lot to do with the makers because filmmakers tell the stories
11:42that they want to tell.
11:43So I think in a lot of instances, what their relationship with women is or how they view
11:49women has a lot to do with how they tell stories.
11:53Okay.
11:54Fair enough.
11:55So whether it's a Manisar or a SLB, you can tell what, you know, this female energy means
12:01in their life.
12:03Fair enough.
12:04Fair enough.
12:05Talking of energies, what is this energy all about?
12:06Shall we just decode it?
12:07You know, I have to tell you, like I really pushed because when I first got on set.
12:13You look angry.
12:14Yeah.
12:15Well, yeah.
12:16This latent rage.
12:17Yeah.
12:18Some kind of latent determination, I would say, but like, you know, there's a, it's
12:24very easy to make a character like Anarkali a bichari, you know, that, you know, this
12:30is her destiny and she just has to deal with it.
12:33And she's a victim.
12:34And woe is me.
12:35Yeah.
12:36Yeah.
12:37Victim and woe is me.
12:38And I kind of pushed back on that.
12:39And I remember having a chat with the, we had a very global creative team.
12:43And I said, I said, you know, this has, I mean, don't take me wrong, but this has been
12:48written by men.
12:49Yes.
12:50And, you know, as a girl, why is she being represented like this?
12:56None of this is her fault.
12:58So why is she feeling sorry for herself?
13:01Because she will push back and she will stand with dignity and she will not lower her eyes.
13:05She will speak to even the emperor who has wronged her as a little girl, as a 12 year
13:11old, if she has been wronged, it is his wrong, not hers.
13:16So she will look him in the eye and be fearless.
13:19Right.
13:20And they were so open to this and they were like, there was no ego.
13:26And it was so beautiful because they were like, she's right.
13:29So you brought that bit about saying, let's not lower the gaze.
13:32Yeah.
13:33And I was just like, I'm not going to do, like, I'm not going to make her a poor girl.
13:38Oh, well done you.
13:39So, yeah.
13:40And there is, of course, tragedy, but the tragedy is her situation.
13:46And it shouldn't define her.
13:47Basically.
13:48It should not define her.
13:49And it does not define her.
13:50And I would not let it define her.
13:51Well done you.
13:52And thank you for being so fearless through your roles and entertaining us.
13:55That's more important.
13:56And I also want to say something.
13:57Yes.
13:59And I want to always say this to people that femininity and, you know, a sort of grace
14:07or vulnerability is not devoid of strength and courage.
14:13And I think, actually, I believe that.
14:16And so it's been pointed out to me so many millions of times that they're like, if you
14:19go foo, you'll fly away.
14:21I'm like, dude, I'll save you in a storm.
14:25And I think my vulnerability or the fact that I show everything and I'm very transparent
14:30is my biggest strength, because it takes a lot of courage to be able to look somebody
14:33in the eye and tell them the truth about yourself or about anything.
14:37So I'm like, they are not mutually exclusive.
14:40And I don't know why we have this notion of that fearless women have to hold a gun in
14:45their hand and shout at people and no, you can, you know, you can also be, you can embrace
14:51your feminine side and be very strong and resilient.
14:55Be who you are and be strong and resilient and determined.