Maanvi Gagroo and Patralekhaa are all set to unite on screen for a slice-of-life, coming-of-age drama, Heer Sara, where the two embark on an unexpected road trip to Pondicherry. The director of the film, Kartik Chaudhry and Maanvi sat with mid-day for an exclusive chat about their upcoming film, and had quite a few secrets to share.
Maanvi Gagroo and Patralekhaa changed the scenes on sets
Talking about the camaraderie between the two leading ladies on sets, Kartik reveals, “When the camera rolls, they are both super professionals, but when it was cut, then obviously they had a great chemistry between them, and it shows on screen also, and that`s why I didn`t mind that. Nobody would mind because you need that for the actors to build that chemistry. I don`t think they knew each other very well before the film, but I think during the shoot of the film, they also became great friends, and the chemistry kind of comes out in the film.”
Sharing an incident of their `masti` on the sets, Maanvi, who plays Heer, recalls, “There`s this one scene, which is there in the trailer as well, where we`re talking. Patralekhaa`s character, Sara, is very quiet and stoic and does not take nonsense or whatever, and my character is very much like constantly talking. I, as Maanvi, I could feel Sara`s frustration because, of course, she wants to go on a trip by herself, and suddenly this person has come who wouldn`t shut up. So there`s a scene where we`re both in a hotel or something, and I`m constantly talking and talking and she`s like I just want to sleep, she`s in that space. For Patra (Patralekhaa), like the minute there would be a cut, she was like, `I also want to do funny things, I also want to say something` because she has no dialogue in that scene.”
Recalling how they suggested options, to which Kartik obliged, she shares, “Eventually we were like `Kuch toh karte hain, kuch toh karte hain, how can we do this?` So we asked Karthik what we can do. Then we came up with a few ideas, and then we gave him three or four options, and I think one of them, then he`s kept in the film. We used to be like `Aur kya kar sakte hain?` and we`d keep troubling him, and he would be like `Just do the scene.`” Kartik adds, “I think that`s how the chemistry helps.”
Maanvi on the struggles of new moms in the industry
We asked Maanvi, who is known for her strong female-led narratives, if the industry was less welcoming to new mothers. Maanvi answered, “Compared to how they were before they were mothers, yes, because I don`t think in general women have a hard time when they`ve just had a baby. Of course, you get your maternity leave and stuff but even after that six-month break or a one-year leave that you`ve taken, when you go back to work, you still have to kind of take care of your child. Unfortunately, bringing up a child is very skewed because it always comes on to the women, even if the husband or the partner wants to help, it`s difficult because the child is by then attached to the mother, she is the primary caregiver and all of that.”
Adding how the industry is less structured when welcoming new mothers, Maanvi draws parallels with corporate setup, sharing, “If we want women to continue working in the workforce, then we`ll have to build an ecosystem in a way that accommodates. Like in a corporate or a more structured setup, you have daycare centres either within the premises or just next to it. A lot of companies give um nanny fees or, they`ll take care of a lot of things for the kids. But we don`t have a structure (in the industry). It`s not a very structured thing.”
“Hats off to the women who do it, that`s all i think. From the outside, I think like I really don`t know how they do it, it`s brilliant,” she concludes.