While, actors taking inspiration from performances of other actors is nothing new or unusual, this does come as a surprise. Perhaps not the fact that she watched Sanam Saeed’s performance rather her admittances in current climate of our sub-continent
“I watched a lot of old films like ‘Mughal-E-Azam‘ and ‘Umrao Jaan‘ to get an understanding of grace and body language. (And) I had to clean my Hindi as I am speaking Urdu (in the film). Abhishek (director) asked me to watch ‘Zindagi Gulzar Hai’. The character of the girl (Kashaf played by Sanam Saeed) in the show is very much how Roop will deal with the situation. She has responsibility on her shoulders so she is not always a happy person. She is vulnerable yet strong. It is difficult (to bring so many) layers – unhappy, vulnerable and strong to a character. Abhishek kept saying that I should be irritating,” Alia said in an interview.
Incidentally, Alia has also co-starred in the critically acclaimed Kapoor and Sons, with Fawad Khan; who was the main lead in Zindagi Gulzar Hai.
She also confirmed that Kalank, has been in the works for a long time.
“He had mentioned about the story in passing when we were promoting Student of the Year. But the story was different at that time. Later, I heard it from Abhishek and he said he was adapting the film in his own way. After many months, I realised Abhishek had written this role keeping me in mind. The process of this film coming to me was very organic,” she said.
Despite this Pakistani connection, it is highly unlikely that her Pakistani fans would be enjoy her performance in cinema due to the ban on release of Indian films.
Kalank, is slated for release on 17th April, 2019
