Showing posts with label Urvashi Sharma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Urvashi Sharma. Show all posts
Shabana Azmi replaces Urvashi Sharma on Ek Maa Jo Laakhon Ke Liye Bani Amma
5:49 PM
Neha Maheshwri Bhagat (BOMBAY TIMES; September 7, 2016)
Seventeen years after she
wielded a gun on the big screen in Godmother, actress Shabana Azmi is
set to reprise the role on TV in Amma. She will take over from
actress Raina Joshi who played the title role. The latter quit the show
because she did n't look old enough for the part post the leap.
Incidentally, the makers had originally planned to make a film on the subject and had approached Shabana for the part. “The film didn't happen, but their TV show got passed,“ says the actress. Ask her about the similarities between her film Godmother and Amma, and she replies, “The only similarities are that they are both mafia dons and they get into this role after the death of their husbands. While Godmother was more politically inclined and motivated, Amma is more like a Robin Hood,“ says Shabana.
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Seventeen years after she starred as a mafia don, Shabana Azmi takes Urvashi Sharma’s place as bootlegger in TV show
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; September 7, 2016)
In 1999, she played an underworld character in Vinay Shukla’s The Godmother for which she bagged a National Award for Best Actress. Now, 17 years later, the actress is yet again playing the role of a mafia queen, albeit on the small screen. The veteran actress has replaced Urvashi Sharma in Ek Maa Jo Laakhon Ke Liye Bani Amma.
The weekend TV series is loosely inspired from the life and times of Mumbai’s yesteryear female don, Jenabai Daruwali. A bootlegger, she was among the first few women in early ’70s to be associated with underworld names like Haji Mastan, Vardharajan Mudaliar, Karim Lala and Dawood Ibrahim, who addressed her as maasi.
In The Godmother, Azmi’s character was based on the life of Santokben Jadeja, mafia queen of Porbandar, Gujarat, in the late ’80s and early ’90s who later turned politician.
Azmi began shooting for the show yesterday at Filmistan Studios. She was in London over the weekend for the play, Kaifi Aur Main.
Says Azmi, “I returned from London on Monday night after doing packed shows of Kaifi Aur Main at the O2 Theatre. Completely jet-lagged, it was not easy getting into the character of a mafia don. The comparison with Godmother is inevitable, but the two characters are distinct. Vinay Shukla’s Rambiben in Godmother for which I bagged a National Award had a political trajectory whereas Zeenatbi in Amma is more of a Robin Hood character; some think of her as a hero, some as a villain. She is illiterate, but street-smart and cunning.”
Urvashi opted out of the show after a recent time leap in the track. Initially, she worked on her character’s look and resorted to make-up and prosthetics, but she felt she didn’t appear old enough. She then decided to bow out of the show.
Azmi adds, “The first day’s shoot was exhausting, but I thrive on pushing myself, so I am giving it my best shot. I can’t rest on laurels I earned in Godmother. Jeevan chalne ka naam hai. The makers have recreated Bombay of the ’70s well and I am happy with my look.”
The '70s show
Jenabai Daruwali started out as a broker of smuggled food grains in Daana Bazaar in Bombay of the early 1970s. Later, she turned to bootlegging and became an aide of gangster Mudaliar. She was also a police informer. Jenabai spent her last few years in a home in Chunawala building, Dongri, involving herself in a religious movement called Tabligh-I- Jamaat, and getting young Muslims into the fold, before a sudden stroke led to her death in 1993.
Incidentally, the makers had originally planned to make a film on the subject and had approached Shabana for the part. “The film didn't happen, but their TV show got passed,“ says the actress. Ask her about the similarities between her film Godmother and Amma, and she replies, “The only similarities are that they are both mafia dons and they get into this role after the death of their husbands. While Godmother was more politically inclined and motivated, Amma is more like a Robin Hood,“ says Shabana.
-------------------------
Seventeen years after she starred as a mafia don, Shabana Azmi takes Urvashi Sharma’s place as bootlegger in TV show
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; September 7, 2016)
In 1999, she played an underworld character in Vinay Shukla’s The Godmother for which she bagged a National Award for Best Actress. Now, 17 years later, the actress is yet again playing the role of a mafia queen, albeit on the small screen. The veteran actress has replaced Urvashi Sharma in Ek Maa Jo Laakhon Ke Liye Bani Amma.
The weekend TV series is loosely inspired from the life and times of Mumbai’s yesteryear female don, Jenabai Daruwali. A bootlegger, she was among the first few women in early ’70s to be associated with underworld names like Haji Mastan, Vardharajan Mudaliar, Karim Lala and Dawood Ibrahim, who addressed her as maasi.
In The Godmother, Azmi’s character was based on the life of Santokben Jadeja, mafia queen of Porbandar, Gujarat, in the late ’80s and early ’90s who later turned politician.
Azmi began shooting for the show yesterday at Filmistan Studios. She was in London over the weekend for the play, Kaifi Aur Main.
Says Azmi, “I returned from London on Monday night after doing packed shows of Kaifi Aur Main at the O2 Theatre. Completely jet-lagged, it was not easy getting into the character of a mafia don. The comparison with Godmother is inevitable, but the two characters are distinct. Vinay Shukla’s Rambiben in Godmother for which I bagged a National Award had a political trajectory whereas Zeenatbi in Amma is more of a Robin Hood character; some think of her as a hero, some as a villain. She is illiterate, but street-smart and cunning.”
Urvashi opted out of the show after a recent time leap in the track. Initially, she worked on her character’s look and resorted to make-up and prosthetics, but she felt she didn’t appear old enough. She then decided to bow out of the show.
Azmi adds, “The first day’s shoot was exhausting, but I thrive on pushing myself, so I am giving it my best shot. I can’t rest on laurels I earned in Godmother. Jeevan chalne ka naam hai. The makers have recreated Bombay of the ’70s well and I am happy with my look.”
The '70s show
Jenabai Daruwali started out as a broker of smuggled food grains in Daana Bazaar in Bombay of the early 1970s. Later, she turned to bootlegging and became an aide of gangster Mudaliar. She was also a police informer. Jenabai spent her last few years in a home in Chunawala building, Dongri, involving herself in a religious movement called Tabligh-I- Jamaat, and getting young Muslims into the fold, before a sudden stroke led to her death in 1993.
I don't have to work for money; my husband has enough of it-Urvashi Sharma
5:10 PM
Hottie Urvashi Sharma returns to acting, almost reluctantly, to play a challenging character of single mother that she didn't think she ever would take up
Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; July 7, 2016)
Actress Urvashi Sharma, best remembered for her role in Akshaye Khanna-starrer 'Naqaab' and a Ponds campaign, is back from a hiatus following marriage and motherhood with a new television soap titled 'Ek Maa Jo Laakhon Ke Liye Bani Amma'.
The bikini, which she once sported with spunk is gone, as has the waif-like waist. Here, she is middle-aged, powerful and a single mother to two children, abandoned by her husband. Inspired, say some, by the exceptional story of Mumbai's female don, Jenabai Daruwali, Amma's character is one of a messiah.
In a telephonic chat from Dubai, where she is holidaying with her two-year-old daughter, Samaira, who mid-interview interrupts her to demand a “ride in a chopper”, Urvashi speaks of returning to acting for the love of it (since “I don't need the money”).
That you return to TV, not films — does that bother you?
Not at all. I am playing a strong character that every girl dreams of playing.
Why the decision to play a de-glam character, given that you were known for your glamourous image and fab body?
I have done de-glam roles before, in Baabarr and Khatta Meetha.
There's buzz that you have been trying to make it to television for long.
That's not true. I was modelling and acting when I was dating Sachiin (Joshi; husband). We married after a two-year live-in relationship. I continued to model for big brands. My first film was an Abbas Mastan movie; it was no small launch. I got married, had a baby and am happy with my life. Most people have been approaching me to produce a show, not act in one. I don't have to work for money; my husband has enough of it. I shop, travel, enjoy my time with family — that's all I need. Doing the show also meant staying away from home in Hyderabad. So it wasn't an easy choice to make. I took it up because the character was interesting and Sachiin understood my passion to act. After shooting for a week, I wondered what I have gotten myself into (laughs). Now I wake up every day at seven to ready for a 9 am shift. I will be shooting for 52 episodes.
What preparation did you do for the role?
I was told it was the role a single mother to two kids. I didn't read up, or speak to anyone. As for the dialogue, body language, look and wardrobe, the producer has done all the homework. He gave me a director who tells me what to do, and I do it. My work is to reach set on time and be ready with my make-up on.
What's it been like so far?
The reactions have been positive. Not just for me, but the director, DOP and co-actor Aman Verma too. And I am happy that people like me after all this time [away from screen].
What was the biggest challenge you faced after deciding to return to act?
To stop shopping. I am not used to working so much. My husband has spoilt me. Even when I go to office, I do it at my own time, often at 2 pm.
Which scene would you say was the toughest to do?
The one where my husband abandons me and I have to wail. To cry every day is difficult and strenuous. When you are a happy person, it's all the more difficult. I don't use glycerin so the trying to cry gives me a headache.
Character inspired by Dawood's 'masi'
Zainab alias Jenabai Daruwali was a bootlegger and police informer. She was among the first few women in the early 1970s to be associated with big names in the underworld, including Haji Mastaan, Vardharajan Mudaliar, Karim Lala and the notorious Dawood Ibrahim, who addressed her as maasi.
Born in the early 1920s, Jenabai, who hailed from Dongri, was an ardent supporter of the Gandhian movement when India was fighting for her independence. During Partition, when her first husband, Mohammad Shah Darwesh, moved to Pakistan — leaving her to fend for herself and her five children — she was forced to work as a broker of smuggled food grains in Daana Bazaar of Masjid Bunder. For a long time, she went with the moniker Jenabai Chaavalwali.
When the business met hard times, Jenabai got her hands dirty in the bootlegging trade, not only thriving during prohibition, but also becoming one of the most trusted aides of gangster Mudaliar and his rivals. In theunderworld, she was known as the crafty “matter pattanewali”.
Known for her manipulative skills, she also two-timed as a police informer, and helped the police bust several smuggling rackets, with the hope of winning them to her side.
Jenabai spent her last few years in a home in Chunawala building, Dongri, involving herself in a religious movement called Tabligh-I- Jamaat, and getting young Muslims into the fold, before a sudden stroke led to her death in 1993.
— Jane Borges
Borges is co-author of Mafia Queens of Mumbai (2011), which profiled Jenabai among other female dons of the city
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