As the long-delayed What Are The Odds drops online, Yashaswini Dayama reflects on her first lead role and how her craft has evolved
Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; June 2, 2020)

Off camera, Yashaswini Dayama comes across as a goofball. But once the camera rolls, she can slip into dramatically different roles effortlessly. After being part of several prestigious projects, the actor is seen in Netflix's latest outing, What Are The Odds? Like any newbie, Dayama says she was nervous about playing the protagonist. "I was overwhelmed and exhausted," admits the actor, as she discusses her first lead role, shouldering the responsibility and more.

Edited excerpts from the interview.

What Are The Odds was made in 2019, but dropped online only now. What happened in the interim?
This was my third project, right after Phobia [2017] and Dear Zindagi [2016]. I did the film because it was a golden opportunity to be the protagonist despite being relatively new in the field. The film travelled to festivals, [but then there was talk of] re-editing it to convert it into a series. Since the story is divided as chapters, it would have been easy to make it episodic. There was some amount of re-writing done, but eventually, they [the production house] realised that the film was great and should be released as is.

How did you bag this role?
Director Megha [Ramaswamy] found me on YouTube where I had posted a ukulele rendition of a popular song. When she narrated the film about two kids who skip school and spend a day together, I was blown away. I didn't think anybody in India would make something like this.

How does it feel to be the star of the film alongside Abhay Deol?
I have always been recognised for the work I have done, even for the small role in Made In Heaven. The series featured so many amazing performers, yet I was remembered. That was an achievement. I was shooting for What Are The Odds, my first feature film as a lead, at the same time as I was working with Zoya Akhtar and Vinay Pathak. That was a magical time.

Considering you've grown as an artiste in the three years since the film was made, how do you reflect on your performance?
During my first viewing, I felt [my performance] was silly at several instances. The way I cried in the climax bothered me; I could see that I was trying hard to shed tears, thinking it would [look authentic]. But now, when I look back at it, I can't accept it. The film came my way fairly early on in my career. Post that, I have worked with so many different filmmakers and actors, and have evolved so much. My understanding of the craft has also changed. That said, I am quite proud of what I have accomplished.

Did you feel there were too many clichés in the film?
When I read the script, I completely accepted the [whimsical] universe. Everything was so beautifully odd, like the sequence of me running into a bird mob. Even when [fairy tales] are adapted to current times, like what they did with A Cinderella Story, they have magic and fantasy. You can't question it all the time. The script didn't feel clichéd. And even if it was, there is always some truth to a cliché.

Uma Ramasubramanian (MID-DAY; May 5, 2020)

With the Coronavirus lockdown having put the brakes on his plans of filming Bhoot Police, director Pavan Kirpalani has gone back to the writing desk. The filmmaker, who had given Bollywood one of its few psychological thrillers with Phobia (2016), is giving finishing touches to the sequel. However, keeping the current scenario in mind, Kripalani has decided to develop it as a web-film.

"The current situation has changed the way the entertainment business functions. I am guessing that over the next one year, smaller films will [benefit] by having a direct-to-web release. So, Phobia 2 will most likely release directly online," he explains.

Close on the heels of the Radhika Apte starrer hitting the screens, it was heard that a male protagonist would take centre-stage in the second instalment. However, the director has had a change of heart. "I had written a male-centric story, but now, I [am pursuing] a different idea with a female lead."

For Pooja Ladha Surti, also Sriram Raghavan's 'man Friday', the key to a great movie is to observe everything, and forget nothing
Aastha Atray Banan (MID-DAY; December 9, 2018)

"In the first scene of Andhadhun, a cat is seen running, keeping in line with the music being played in the background. Now, the cat doesn't know what it's doing, but because Pooja has edited the scene in a certain way, it feels like the cat is reacting to the music. She has turned the cat into a performer," says the film's director Sriram Raghavan of Pooja Ladha Surti.

"She also has great patience and a memory that's unbeatable. She will say later 'that expression from that scene was so good', and you are [left] amazed." No wonder then that Raghavan calls Surti, a writer and editor, his 'man Friday' and has now been working with her since his debut, the 2004 film Ek Hasina Thi.

Surti, whose collaboration with Raghavan, as a writer and editor, has been the most extensive with movies like Andhadhun (one of the year's biggest hits, which centres around a blind man, portrayed by Ayushmann Khurrana, who gets stuck in the middle of a murder scene), Johnny Gaddaar (2007) and Badlapur (2015), has also worked on movies like Phobia (2016) and Agent Vinod (2012).

As we soon find out, Surti is known for her keen eye, and the layers she brings to the movie, whether it's through her writing or editing. Her work usually starts with co-writing, then watching, observing as the movie is shot, and translating those perceptions into delivering an edit that, as Phobia director Pavan Kripalani put it, "makes even the worst scene, good, always keeping the story first."

But, for Surti, writing movies, and editing them, happened just by being at the right place at the right time, and noticing the right things. The 47-year-old, who was born in Jamnagar, in Gujarat, but grew up in Mumbai after her family shifted to tend to her ailing grandfather, knew from the beginning that movies were her first love.

In 1975, she saw Sholay, her first movie at a cinema hall, but it was a while before she abandoned her hopes to be an airhostess (because she wanted to travel), for a career in the media. "I read a lot of books and watched a lot of movies as I studied at St Xavier's [Dhobi Talao], and then joined a TV channel, and life changed when I met Ram Gopal Varma to interview him for the channel."

He asked her if she would write with him, and if she had any ideas of a film with a woman hero, and as luck would have it, she did. The avid reader of many a James Hadley Chase, gave him the first draft of Ek Hasina Thi (a movie about a woman conned by her lover and how she then turns the tables on him), and it was then that he brought in Raghavan.

"RGV and Urmila [Matondkar, who starred in the movie], liked it, but Sriram said 'let's start at the beginning' and asked questions like 'what is she feeling now?'. What Sriram and I do is we talk a lot, almost distilling the idea threadbare, which is what we did with Ek Hasina... Then the editor of the movie fell sick, so I decided to step in, despite having no prior experience. I enjoyed it, so when Johnny happened, I asked Sriram right at the beginning if I could edit it."

Raghavan tells us, "I had been ribbing her all of Ek Hasina... saying 'you should be an editor', so when she asked, I said ok, it's a small movie, let's try this. What works with Pooja is how well she connects with the material. She is usually there for the whole length of the shoot, and even has great sense of music and sound. So, in the end when she edits, she can just bring it all together that much better."

Surti knows that watching the shoot and taking it all in is the most important part of it all. "Sometimes an actor may think a shot is great, but it just doesn't fit. Sometimes I start from scene 17, because I know that that scene will change the pace," says Surti, who counts Aandhi ("not a thriller"), Mad Max-Fury Road, Shutter Island, Munich, Pulp Fiction, Parinda and Satya as some of her favourite films.

For Kripalani, who Surti worked on Phobia with, she is the backbone of it all. The movie, which starred Radhika Apte (left) in the lead, was about a woman suffering from agoraphobia after being molested. "What I didn't have was the maturity to add layers to the characters. But Pooja knows how to do that. She didn't make the women, good and the men, bad. She knows everyone is grey, and that's because she is extremely perceptive and writes characters that are real," he says.

Apte, who has acted in many of Surti's projects, agrees with Kripalani. "Pooja can find balance in character, without judgment. There are many things I can't see as an actor, but she makes me see them, and then makes me take that risk. She takes risks all the time, and is so inspiring for me. I don't think any movie would have turned out the way it had to if she wasn't on set every day. She is part of all decision-making processes and improvisations at every single level."

For now, the PD James lover is writing a web series and working on two more film ideas with Raghavan. Her free time, she spends time with her husband and 11-year-old son and tries to have a life outside the film world.

"It's a great thing to do what you love, though I definitely want to make more money. But then, I guess, I need to work more!" she laughs. Ask her what she prefers, editing or writing, and she chuckles, "Editing puts a smile on my face, and writing drives me crazy. At this point, I am just happy the movies have done well, and it's making me feel all warm and fuzzy.


Pooja with Tabu, who starred in Andhadhun, and Sriram Raghavan

The actor suffers from aviophobia in the sequel to a 2016 psychological thriller
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 12, 2017)

Mirror (January 31) was the first to report that director Pawan Kirpalani is all set to kick off a sequel to his critically acclaimed 2016 psychological thriller, Phobia, featuring Radhika Apte as Mehak who suffers from agoraphobia (fear of open spaces). Now, Mirror has learnt that Nawazuddin Siddiqui will topline Part 2. His character suffers from aviophobia (fear of flying).

“After Nawaz had wrapped up Munna Michael, we met at his residence and jammed on this script. He immediately gave his nod. Phobia will always have a high-calibre actor as performance is paramount. Nawaz suits this character perfectly,” reasons producer Viki Rajani, adding that they had planned on a sequel even before the release of the original.

He goes on to inform that the film will begin with Nawaz boarding a flight and the entire movie is set in a plane. “We will begin work on a set once we lock the dates,” says Viki, pointing out that the shoot will begin either in October or in February after Nawaz finishes Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan’s sci-fi space adventure Chanda Mama Door Ke in which he plays an astronaut. “He will start prepping for our film closer to the shoot,” he added.

Does Nawaz himself have any phobia? Viki quips with a laugh, “He has phobia for bad scripts.”

Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 31, 2017)

After his critically acclaimed 2016 psychological thriller, Phobia, with Radhika Apte as Mehak, an artist suffering from severe agoraphobia, director Pawan Kirpalani is all set to kick off a sequel. He is currently in the process of locking the script.

“We always wanted to turn it into a franchise and were happy with the feedback we received for the original, so we decided to go ahead with Part 2. Pawan has written a brilliant story which deals with aviophobia, the fear of flying,” informs producer Viki Rajani, quick to add that while it will continue to have elements of horror, suspense and an interesting twist, this time the team is also upping the production values.

And will Radhika feature in part 2 as well? “Radhika did a tremendous job with Phobia and carried the film on her shoulders. But now we are looking for another established actress and will begin casting in February,” says Viki.

There were several films this year that touched our hearts and entertained the movie buff in us. But business-wise, these films faltered badly. This Filmy Fenil special feature presents a list of 8 films which we feel should have done better at the box office:

Chalk N Duster
This was a sweet, simple film that beautifully tells the problems that plagues our education system. Yes, it had some filmy, unconvincing moments but the essence of the film was lovely and easy to decipher. Moreover, it had a solo release on January 15, 2016. Ghayal Once Again was to release on the same day but got pushed. Yet, Chalk N Duster failed to cash in on it.

Ghayal Once Again
At times, the films don’t fail, it’s the budget that does. This applies well to Ghayal Once Again that had a huge cost to recover (reportedly, Rs 50 crore). Again, this was not a fitting sequel to the iconic Ghayal but it had some really enjoyable moments. The single screen viewers went into frenzy in certain sequences.

Aligarh
Manoj Bajpayee gave one of his greatest performances of his career in Aligarh, based on the life of a controversial homosexual professor in Aligarh Muslim University. The slow-moving film sadly dealt with a not-so-exciting subject which is the reason why its collections were disastrous

Fan
Fan was full of loopholes. However, the action scenes were a treat. In fact, Fan was one of the best action films to have come out of Bollywood. To see a Shah Rukh Khan entertainer not even crossing 100 crore was a huge disappointment

Nil Battey Sannata
This was one of the surprises of the year. The film did pick up after a very, very bad first day but it was just not enough. It was even tax exempted in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi but again, it was not a typical entertainer and hence, viewers gave it a miss.

Phobia
Phobia was a well-made thriller and even had a dash of horror, which added to the impact in certain scenes. Radhika Apte does a brilliant job. How it made less than 4 crores at the box office, despite great reports, is baffling

Waiting
Waiting obviously didn’t seem like a film that would be a hit at the box office. It seemed like a nice, genuine effort but it exceeds expectations. It turned out to be quite a touching film. While the response from audiences was very positive, it didn’t translate into healthy box office numbers.

A Flying Jatt
This film goes wrong at a lot of places. But for the average Indian who craves entertainment and escapism from films, A Flying Jatt was a film to watch out for. Moreover, it was a superhero film and hence, the kids too should have come out in large numbers. Sadly, that didn’t happen especially when viewers have seen better superhero films, in terms of execution, content and effects, from Hollywood. Interestingly, the film does extremely well on television which shows that audiences gave the film a thumbs up, but only when it was out of theatres, sadly.

Phobia is a very unconventional psychological thriller and horror film that surely engages viewers from the very first scene. It is less than 100 minutes long and director Pavan Kirpalani handles it very well. The horror quotient never goes over the top and some scenes indeed give a chill down the spine. The climax is quite unpredictable as well. On the flipside, the writing is weak and several questions are left unanswered because of which one doesn’t come out fully satisfied. Radhika Apte is terrific and plays the role of a character suffering from agrophobia amazingly. Satyadeep Misra (Shaan) provides able support. Yashaswini Dayma (Nikki) plays a very cool character and it adds a nice touch to the film. Ankur Vikal (Manu) is quite intriguing. If only the loose ends were taken care of, Phobia would have been a cult horror film of Bollywood!

My rating - *** out of 5!

THE LULL BEFORE THE STORM THIS WEEK!

Housefull 3 is all set to release next Friday. And as it happens before the release of a biggie, multiple small films will try their luck this Friday. In all, 4 films are releasing and here’s my analysis on these flicks:

VEERAPPAN: It is directed by Ram Gopal Varma and is a remake of his Kannada film Killing Veerappan. Newcomer Sandeep Bharadwaj plays the dreaded smuggler and he does look like Veerappan. Sachiin Joshi, Lisa Ray and Usha Jadhav too feature in the film. The film looks interesting and is shot in real locations. However, it’s violent as well and hence a section of audiences will stay away from the film. Also, the buzz is very limited and Zareen Khan’s song hasn’t really helped.

PHOBIA: It is directed by Ragini MMS part 1 director Pawan Kirpalani and speaks about a woman (Radhika Apte) who suffers from phobia of open spaces. The concept is new and the film looks like a rich, qualitative product. The film does give the chills, going by the promos. Sadly, such films attract niche audiences. And the buzz is very limited.

WAITING: It stars Naseeruddin Shah and Kalki Koechlin and although the subject sounds grim, it’s not. The film’s trailer is very heartening and immediately makes one curious about the movie. Being a niche film, it won’t attract audiences in hordes but if the word of mouth is good, it can stick around in cineplexes easily for a couple of weeks.

FREDRICK: This is directed by debutant Rajesh Butalia and features Murder 2 actor Prashant Narayanan. The film looks low budget but the subject is intriguing and it can be a decent timepass suspense fare. The film has some good songs but it hasn’t got the recognition it deserves as the makers themselves have handled the music. Also, the promotion is hardly there and this will surely affect the film’s box office prospects.

The previous Hindi releases like Azhar and Sarbjit have failed and yet, these films will be at a disadvantage. In Maharashtra, these movies will face a challenge as Marathi film Sairat is still running strong while Swwapnil Joshi Anjana Sukhani-starrer Laal Ishq will also be hitting screens. This is the first Marathi production of Sanjay Leela Bhansali and the buzz is excellent. And it will be Laal Ishq that will collect maximum in Day 1 despite being a regional film.

WHICH FILM WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE OUT OF THESE AND WHY? DO LET US KNOW!

MID-DAY (May 25, 2016)

Actors today spend a considerable amount of time as prep-up for a film before it goes on floors. And Radhika Apte is no stranger to this exercise. For her role as an agoraphobic (a person who fears open spaces) in Pavan Kripalani’s Phobia, the actress did a lot of research to get into the skin of her character — meeting doctors and patients apart from reading up extensively on the subject and gathering as much information as possible.

During her recent visit to the mid-day office, the actress revealed that she had turned to her surgeon parents for better understanding of the particular phobia. She says, “In India, phobias are not taken seriously, so nobody knows what it is actually about. I have friends who have panic disorders and I could learn more from them. My parents are doctors, so I had access to more information in that sense. My father told me about neurological aspects of it.”

She said the inputs from her parents and a psychologist friend was crucial in prepping for the character. “We had to make sure that we showed the effects of the phobia accurately. This friend of mine was, thankfully, there for me whenever I had something to be run by him,” she adds.

BOMBAY TIMES (April 25, 2016)