Vidya meets Il Postino director in Pak

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sheetal

@sheetald

Rocker

Posted: 19 years ago

Vidya Balan

Vidya Balan was in Pakistan recently, for the release of the Urdu translation of the book Mo's Story, by Mehnaaz Rahmatullah. Vidya had gone to Karachi with a friend.

Says the actress "The director of Il Postino, Michael Radford was there too. He had directed the English audio version of Rahmatullah's book, in Joseph Fiennes' voice.

Meeting Radford was amazing; we came from different spaces and there was such a give-and-take of ideas.

Proceeds to kids' charity

The book release "was part of Reaching The Stars campaign. All the proceeds went for children's education. And that's something I really believe in," says Vidya. Rahmatullah's book will also be released in Hindi, in India, later.

How did Vidya get selected to release a book? "They were looking for an Asian woman with a reformist image and a traditional personality. I guess I fitted the bill."

Zabaan sambhal ke

"People in Karachi were very warm and welcoming. I read out the book in Urdu. Before leaving for Pakistan, I sat on the script with Gulzar's saab's associate, Salif Arif, for a couple of days. Luckily, the people and the press in Karachi had good things to say about me. With Urdu, one can easily go wrong in the pronunciation."

Vidya also had a food crisis. "Unfortunately, I'm vegetarian, so I had a tough time, except on the last day, when the writer's brother-in-law fed me a delightful vegetarian lunch. But there were lovely vegetarian restaurants, including one run by actress Sonia Jehan's mother."

Is she getting typecast as a serious classical actress, suited only to period dramas? "So far, it's only been Parineeta.

Rumours of dada (Pardeep Sarkar) starting another literary classic, Devi Chaudhurani, were totally unfounded. I'll be going back in time for Sudhir Mishra's Bahut Nikle Mere Armaan and Rituparno Ghosh's Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, but I play modern roles in Nikhil Advani's Salaam-e-Ishq and Raju Hirani's Munnabhai 2. Actually, I'm happy being known as a classical actress. I'd be uncomfortable if I was known as a hottie."

Il Postino (The Postman)

The film, nominated for five Oscars in 1995, won Luis Enrquez Bacalov the award for Best Music and Original Dramatic Score.

The story is simple — the life of fisherman Mario changes dramatically when exiled Chilean writer Pablo Neruda settles on his little Italian island.

Neruda needs a postman to deliver the huge quantities of mail sent to him by his admirers, and Mario takes the job, since he hates fishing.

The two become friends and Neruda helps the shy and clumsy Mario win the heart of Beatrice, the beautiful waitress at the village inn, by showing him the beauty and power of poetry.