Actress Richa Chadha joined NewsX India A-List for an exclusive conversation. The actress is best known for her roles in Gangs of Wasseypur which earned her a Filmfare award, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, Fukrey, and her debut in a leading role with the drama Masaan, among others.
Post-Covid Richa’s Madam Chief Minister, directed by Subhash Kapoor, had a theatrical release. Talking about her movie and reviews, she said, “One can never really be sure at screenings. I have no objectivity as far as this film is concerned as I’m attached to it. I’ve been waiting for responses. I don’t read reviews because they can be really good and really bad and I don’t want my peace of mind to be disturbed by any of that.” She is one of the first few leading actresses whose film has released and hit theatres across the country during this pandemic.
“As we’re all attempting to slowly get back to the normalcy of what the version of normalcy was. Cinema plays a huge part in taking some steam off, letting some pressure out. I hope that people are choosing to go to the theatres and watch this film. I know a lot of people have already done that. I’m excited to hear what they think. I definitely know that this will be talked about for better or for worse,” said the actress who has several critical appraisals for her bold roles. “It was a great part to be in the movie, and I thought that it would be foolish to turn it down. It’s risky but also an experiment. It’s risky to have a whole new look, a new set of skills you need to acquire, be in a new headspace and it’s a new genre hence I wanted to do it. I was happy that they considered me for it,” Richa added.
She shared her lockdown lessons from the year gone by, “The year was tough and we had lots of tragedies occurring around us. The state of the migrants when they were walking back home and those times are very difficult when you as a human race had to deal with such misery or like when somebody passed away and you could not even mourn properly or see them one last time. Such things were really difficult for sure. I think no good ever comes from partying and if you’re having a great year the chances of you sitting down to introspect are very less. But when we were all indoors, shut down and by ourselves, it forced us to think. Sometimes, all it takes is for you to disconnect on social media or go for a walk. The simpler things in life are a big lesson from the lockdown.”
The actress shared with us her thoughts on the current state of the film industry and anticipations for the year ahead as after a tough year for the film industry, where many releases were halted, films are slowly releasing in theatres later this year. “I think everyone’s attempting to get back to work and lots of projects are now on floors, particularly series because in the lockdown the growth of OTT has been phenomenal because it’s got a captive audience and what it has done in turn is creating a space where there is no box office pressure or opening week pressure. We get to see fantastic performances and the work of amazing actors. These things are a positive change and also having to compete with something which you can watch on your phone or your laptop is so much that film industry people are now forced to lift their standards of writing. I feel this year should turn out good and like with everything else we must hope to be optimistic and create things that stand the test of time.”
Recognised as one of the biggest achievers in the field of entertainment and cinema, Richa shared her game-changing film, “I don’t know what was game-changing at all. I don’t know, the game has been changed. I don’t look at my life in terms of points on a graph. I think it’s more like a meandering journey where I’m having new experiences, doing new things, and keeping myself entertained. I hope to continue doing that as at the end of the day it’s also about how I feel. I realised that as an artist primarily you also want to experiment and flex your muscles when you get things. But breaks are important as I got Gangs of Wasseypur and thrown into this world and that would have been something life-changing in a sense.”
On a concluding note, she shared a piece of advice for the budding actors who look up to her, “Just tighten your seatbelts, be very patient, grow a thick skin, and try to keep yourself happy.”