Grandma turns seductress!

I had no reservations about playing the sensuous Namrata.
In fact, when Naseer approached me, the first thing I told him was "thank God." All this while, I was playing aged roles with white-streaked hair and silver glasses wearing Chinese-collar blouses. In Yun Hota…, I loved the characterisation of Namrata. She is a failed dancer, but in her troupe — consisting of only males — there is no competition for her.

Though she is old, she dresses up and behaves like a young woman. Salim (Irrfan Khan) is besotted with her, but she is unfaithful to him as she is also in a relationship with one of her dancers. The only reservation I had was that Namrata should not end up looking like a whore.

I was working with Naseer after ages.
About 18 years ago, I had done a replacement act in his play, The Pupil, for one show. I first met him during the making of Ketan Mehta's Bhavani Bhavai. And then we kept in touch off and on.

Naseer wanted the right 'apparatus' for the role.
He sent me to choreographer Farah Khan to check out whether I could move (read dance). There is this dance sequence, which she had choreographed, and he wanted to be sure I could carry it off. I attended Farah's assistant Deepak Rawat's dance classes for three months.

I asked him if he was sure about the erotic sequence.
There is no commitment in the relationship between Namrata and Salim. But he is constantly thinking about her, lusting for her. There is this erotic dream sequence where we have used food, as it is one of the most basic needs. I told Naseer there was no need to expose in the scene.

I am unsure about the reaction I will get.
I know that producers won't bang down my door to sign me up, but I've loved Naseer's characterisation of my role. There are very few filmmakers who show middle-aged and old women as desirable.