| Even as Bollywood director Vikram Bhatt is gearing up to start work on his next movie, based on the recent alleged rape of a female South African model of Indian origin, the TV serial, Kituu Sabb Jaantii Hai (SaharaOne), is currently showing a loosely inspired version of the crime.
Preiti Gupta, who made waves with her Gimme red battery commercial with Amitabh Bachchan, has been cast as the NRI tourist.
Gupta was last seen in a cameo in the SRK home production, Paheli where Shah Rukh (not the ghost) is shown flirting with her, imagining her to be his wife (Rani Mukerji). Hard-hitting portrayal
What made the dim-witted whimsical Anita of Kaisa Yeh Pyar Hai accept the controversial rape-victim character? Says Preiti, "It's a riveting role of a UK-based girl, Rina, who is visiting India and gets abducted. Considering that it's a TV show, obviously, the actual rape won't be shown.
But it is done suggestively and there are rapid montages of the three rapists manhandling my character after drugging her. The cops refuse to register a complaint because one of the guys has political clout and tries to hush up the case."
"It was a challenge for me to get into the post-abuse shock mode and portray the trauma of a rape victim. It was mentally exhausting too as we shot for it over five days.
Since it reminded one of the recent real-life incident, I could empathise with the model and what she must gone through. At the end of the shoot, I actually broke down," says the actress, who then has crusader journalist Kituu taking up her cause and exposing the nightmarish crime. Anchor stop
Besides modelling and acting, Preity is also hosting a show called Commercial Break, on the Janmat channel. "It's a dynamic assignment, where I have to interview the gurus of advertising, including CEOs and creative heads of ad agencies; they share tricks of the trade and discuss various ad campaigns. I am enjoying it," gushes Gupta, who has also been finalised by Ekta Kapoor to play one of the lead roles in her upcoming serial, Krimson Skies. |
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Shiv Shakti
