Hindustan Times (Patna) - Hindustan Times (Patna) - Live
The film that was...
Oh my God!” Tara Sharma exclaims with surprise on being reminded that her film Page 3, which exposed the underbelly of the glamour world, has clocked 15 years.
“How time flies, I don’t know how... I still feel I’m 18,” says the actor, who played a Bollywood aspirant, Gayatri, in the Madhur Bhandarkar directorial, featuring Konkona Sensharma and Sandhya Mridul as her on-screen friends.
The character that Tara played in the film was poignant as it delved into the industry’s casting couch menace that now, courtesy the #MeToo movement, is out in the open more than ever.
“I think the funny thing is that being this naive actress finding her way — the part that I played in the film — in some ways, I guess there is that innocence in me even now... There were many hard-hitting things in the film as well, like the casting couch thing. Of course, I have had the desire to bring about a positive change, and it stems from how anything that’s socially relevant [and disturbing] bothers me. Having said that, I have never experienced anything like that,” she adds.
Having debuted with Om Jai Jagadish (2002), Tara also went on to feature in films such as Masti (2004) and Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006). What Page 3 also gave her was friends for life.
“Koko (Konkona), Sandy (Sandhya) and I became good friends, and in fact, Koko and I went on to do a couple of films together. She has been on my show (The Tara Sharma Show) three times. So she and I laugh about how we have come from there (from Page 3) to here... We’re moms now,” she quips.
Tara further says how while she knew something different was in the making with Page 3, she never conjectured it would turn out to be what it did — a National Film Award for Best Feature Film winner.
“I think there were a lot of surprises because of Madhur and the way he works. Of course we all knew the script, but we didn’t know exactly how it was going to pan out. And frankly, as an actor, even when I did Khosla Ka Ghosla or even Masti, I could never foresee what the final product will be... I think some people can and some people can’t. I couldn’t. So, it was a great surprise when the whole film came together and did so well. There are a lot of good memories, and I cannot believe it’s 15 years,” the actor adds.
Madhvi’s role, played by Konkona Sensharma, was first offered to Kareena Kapoor Khan.
Raima Sen walked out of the film and was replaced by Tara Sharma. Model-actor Amit Ralli, who was cast opposite Konkona to play a Page 3 journalist, died from jaundice after shooting for just five days and was replaced by Jai Kalra. Shamir Tandon made his debut as a music director with the film. Since the beginning, he had wanted Lata Mangeshkar and Asha
Bhosle to sing Kitne Ajeeb Rishtey and Huzur E Aala, respectively.
When Asha was contacted by Madhur Bhandarkar and Shamir to sing Huzur E Aala, she was in America and would return only after three months. But Shamir was adamant that only she should sing it. So, he and Madhur booked a studio in America and recorded it there. Shamir told Asha to sing it the way she would sing for Helen.
It was Konkona’s first film in mainstream cinema.
Madhur Bhandarkar’s films are known to expose behind-thescenes reality of various industries, be it business (Corporate; 2006), fashion (Fashion; 2008) or Bollywood (Heroine; 2012). Page 3, which completes 15 years of its release today, too, was one such film, which revolved around the Page 3 party culture and films.
Actor Konkona Sensharma made her Bollywood debut with the film, and played a journalist who brings to light the various hypocrisies prevalent in Page 3 society. Madhur reveals he was dissuaded from making this experimental film by many.
“It was a small-budget film, and I remember telling my producer, Bobby Pushkarna, ‘I don’t know if you will recover your money or not’. But he was a big admirer of my work and said he wanted to make this film. People discouraged me and said, ‘It’s ahead of its time’. For me, Page 3 parties were an altogether different world. Chandni Bar (2001) and Satta (2003) had been hits, and people speculated I was making a murder mystery again. I got a lot of flak before making it,” says the 51-year-old.
The film went on to win many awards, including three National Awards. Madhur says the film was ‘80% real and 20% to suit the narrative’. “It was made 15 years back, when it was a big high for people to come on the page 3 cover, know who’s wearing what, the gossip and all that. For me, it was a big eye-opener when I attended these parties. For example, a socialist-activist, who fought for animal rights on TV, would be seen enjoying chicken and mutton! It was a superficial world,” Madhur says.
In such a scenario, did he burn bridges with many people? “Oh yes,” he says, adding, “A lot of socialites and authors got upset with me, and said, ‘What Madhur has shown isn’t the Page 3 world’. But I have so much material that I can make Page 3 part 2, 3 and many more!”
On the sequels, Madhur adds that they would be made very differently today as the censor board, then, was too strict. “I had to change so many dialogues and cut scenes. These days, things have changed and the censor has evolved, but the culture is still the same. Today, it’s about Instagram likes and the looks. Some even go into depression if they don’t get enough likes.”
TARA SHARMA’S CHARACTER, GAYATRI, DELVED INTO THE INDUSTRY’S CASTING COUCH MENACE