FILM INTERVIEW: MUGDHA GODSE
Former Femima Miss India Dons Her Sultry Body in 'Help' and Looks Ahead to Next Film
If anyone in Bollywood is going to need help this weekend, it is going to be the Hindi film fans who pass out after watching a stunningly drop-dead gorgeous Mugdha Godse grace the big screen in a sultry two-piece bikini in the upcoming release of Help. Co-starring with Bobby Deol, the former Femima Miss India contestant and Fashion star was at Mumbai’s Hotel Le Royce this week to promote the August 13th release of Help, Bollywood’s latest attempt at the horror genre that is coincidentally releasing on Friday the 13th. With Rajeev Virani helming the production of Help, Mugdha is excited for her first leading role. To think the Filmfare Award-winning actress did not make much of it when Rajeev shared the script with her.
As stunned as she was at the script, she was apparently even more stunned to be starring in a horror flick so early in her career. Not only is Mugdha a big fan of the genre, she felt as if such roles do not land in an actor’s lap until much later in their careers. Alas, not only did Mugdha land a leading role in a horror flick in just her fourth career release, but she was also privileged enough to have the scary movie release on Friday the 13th.
“Usually actors get offered such films only after several years, as this genre requires a different set of skills and talent. I’m so glad that Rajeev thought I could pull it off,” she candidly announced during the Help press conference, adding that certain horror films — like 1408, Raat, and Ring — are among her all-time favorites. “I watch a horror film every three days, so I didn’t even need to research a lot for my role.”
Of course, Rajeev had a thing or two to say about his lead actress, who claimed a Filmfare Award in 2009 for Best Female Debut in Fashion.
“We would joke around and tell Mugdha that, to play a girl possessed by a spirit, she just had to be herself!” Rajeev joked about is lead star in Help before adding some more serious comments about Mugdha and Bobby Deol. “The film is scripted in such a way that both Bobby Deol and Mugdha had guidelines to follow. In fact, the USP (unique selling proposition) of Help is that it shows the five different stages of possession. A lot of research has gone into the script, and I hope it will help raise the bar of horror films.”
Part of that raised bar involves how a lead actress best carries herself when bearing almost her entire body on screen. As the early portions of Help feature the more glamorous side of a vacationing couple in Mauritius (played by Bobby and Mugdha), both Rajeev and the former beauty pageant contestant said the bikini scenes were important to showing how her character lived prior to being possessed by evil spirits.
“I got a chance to show the chemistry and the normal glamorous life of the couple only in the beginning. Thus, the bikini scenes,” Rajeev told the press, stating that such a strong connection between Bobby and Mudgha was essential in order to make the rest of the plot, which involved the husband (Bobby) desperately trying to save his wife (Mugdha) from possessed spirits, more believable.
Mugdha chimed in, saying she was very comfortable with the scene and does not think it was out of place by any stretch of the imagination. Heck, her own mother had no issue with the bikini scene, so why should anyone else? she pondered.
“It’s not a big deal for me, as I started my career with Gladrags, where I had to wear a bikini,” she humbly stated during the press conference. “The media has hyped my mother’s reaction to it. All she said was, ‘What is this?’ but this quote has been blown out of proportion to depict that she’s upset with my decision!”
Then again, should anyone be upset with the decisions Mugdha has made so far in her career? Since participating in the Gladrags beauty pageant, the model-turned-actress has apparently done quite well for herself. Not only did she win a Filmfare award for her debut in the 2008 film Fashion, she also was rather happy with her roles in Jail and All The Best: Fun Begins. With Will You Marry Me? on the horizon as her next film, Mughda thinks she is on the right path to stardom and success, irrespective of the general public’s potentially conservative viewpoints of her (or anyone else, for that matter) donning a sultry bikini on the silver screen.
“I debuted with Fashion, and my role garnered a lot of praise. That was a realistic film, and though such films have so much depth, they have few takers in the audience. That’s why I did All the Best, which was a typical commercial comedy,” she candidly expressed at the afternoon press conference in Mumbai on Thursday. “Even my next role in Will You Marry Me? with Rajeev Khandelwal involves lots of naach-gaana. I’ve struggled initially, but then who doesn’t, other than star kids? Actually, even they have to face some competition. What really matters is how you cope with the struggles.”
Hopefully Bollywood audiences are receptive to Help (and, later this year, Will You Marry Me?) so Mugdha will not have to struggle anymore or deal with questions about her looking stunning in a well-suited bikini. Should things continue to go as planned, perhaps Mugdha’s life as an actress will be possessed with everlasting joy and happiness, what with all horrific struggles and events careening as far away from her as possible.
Be sure to “Like” Buzzine Bollywood on our Facebook Fan Page.
