Keeping up with Kajol

As The Trial’s trailer drops online, creator Suparn on how Kajol elevates scenes with her spontaneity
Priyanka Sharma (MID-DAY; June 12, 2023)

Suparn Varma can’t imagine a better start to the week, as the trailer of The Trial drops online today. With it, he brings the adaptation of the popular American show, The Good Wife, to the Indian audience. He believes that in Kajol, he has the best actor to bring the story alive.

“Kajol has been India’s sweetheart for decades. I have a mad energy on set, and luckily, she is equally mad,” grins the creator-director.

In the courtroom drama, Kajol will reprise the role played by Julianna Margulies in the original. While over the years, Varma had heard much about the actor’s famed spontaneity, he saw it first-hand on her maiden web series.

“Before shooting intense scenes, we would have long discussions, where she would ask me what more she could do in the scene. I’d scribble down some lines for her, which would come from a personal space. She is a giving actor, who is always present in the moment. You can see her create her scenes in real time.”

Varma, who recently had a winner in Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai, says actors today are hungry to experiment with characters, and the web has given them the outlet to satiate their appetite. “The storytelling is richer, and the characters created are fuller.”