Posted:
It is true that Surekha Sikri had been given most of the punch lines and Neena Gupta had to rely more on silent acting because she was not given a lot of dialogues by the director. That being said, I thought she was awesome in how she portrayed herself as a woman who was desirable to her husband even at an old age and also how she had that scene with Ayushman wherein as an audience you also find yourself connecting to her as a mother (the scene where she forgives him and gives him that motherly touch). The way she had to show her discomfort but also responding to various reactions of other people, both taunting and celebratory and everywhere in between. For someone being given zero dialogues and having to rely on emoting as well as body language alone, she did an incredible job !!
I can't think of any one else who would have succeeded like her in nailing those nuances perfectly...if some other actor had tried and failed, we as an audience would have said her character was not etched as well by director or given much room (and rightfully so). Or that we do not accept late parenthood.
It takes some serious acting chops for her to show both a desirable side to her (you can see why her husband likes her so much) and also a motherly side and being a long suffering daughter in law without coming across as pitiable. She made it all look so easy and simple, so I guess that too portrays her skills as an actress.
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