Smiley Suri
Smiley Suri, the pretty petite girl, had left her mark as an actress in her first film KALYUG. Inspite of being from the Bhatt camp, she preferred to prove herself independently. Now her next film YEH MERA INDIA (YMI), directed by N Chandra, is ready for release on 28th August 2009. Another film DOWNTOWN, directed by Andalip Sultanpuri with a new hero is also on the floors.
After KALYUG, your second film YMI is now releasing. What is the movie all about?
YEH MERE INDIA is a typical N. Chandra film. It will bring back the old N Chandra of films like TEZAAB, ANKUSH, KAGAAR, TEJASWINI, NARSIMHA, PRATIGHAAT etc. Like them even YMI is a hard hitting real film which was also shot at real location. Anybody can relate to the characters shown in the film. It deals with many different issues but at the same time it will be a paisa vasool for the viewer. I am glad that I am a part of this movie. After KALYUG I was waiting for a good script with a strong role for me.
Tell something about your character? How did you prepare for your role?
In Y.M.I., I am playing a totally different character than that of Renuka of KALYUG. Renuka commits suicide after facing sexual harassment. My character Asha in Y.M.I. also goes through the harassment but she fights backs with the people and the circumstances. She is very sweet simple Maharashtrian girl and works in a call center. But she is very strong and unwilling to give up or accept defeat. However, when you talk about my preparation for role, I have been in Mumbai for a very long time now and my interaction with Maharashtrians too, has been in depth. I just had to look around at my friends and known people to adapt the body language and characteristics. Then we had shot at real locations that too added to my learning experience.
What is your look in the film?
This is the story of 24 hours. Since I am a simple middle class Maharashtrian girl, I’m wearing Salwar Kamiz at work. But in 2nd half of the day I’m with my boyfriend played by Purab Kohli. So I suggested to Chandraji to let me wear long skirt and top. He liked it and accepted it. So there are only two changes in the entire film.
Title is, YEH MERA INDIA. It suggests nationalism. Comment.
There are five different stories in one movie. All are inter connected and influence each other’s life. People from different places come together as one story eventually. While watching it you will definitely think that this kind of situation and reactions can happen only in India. You will walk out with the feeling of pride at being an Indian. It’s the story of people and their reactions. It is not about patriotism but it will invoke the feeling.
How was the experience working with such a talented director like N Chandra? What did you learn from him?
Well Chandra ji is a very experienced director, so naturally my exposure to his style of acting has been really very big learning curve. He prefers to enact the scene for his actor. May it be me or any other senior actor. I realized that in this manner, he is able to draw exactly what he wants. In fact I had to give such fewer retakes for most of my shots because of this. His excitement and energy level, while demonstrating, used be exactly as per the age of the character, which was really amazing. He is always open to suggestion.
