Zohra Sehgal uncut: Of love, acting & Bloody Mary

UNSTOPPABLE: At 96, Zohra Sehgal is one of the busiest actors in the country today.

        

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Keywords: Interview, Theatre

Zohra Sehgal is having the last laugh. The industry that had little to offer her as a young woman can't get enough of her these days. From movies to ad-films, Zohra's expressive face fearlessly flaunts all kinds of emotions. At 96, the woman who says she used to look very plain enjoys the way she looks and claims is no famous than ever before.

Anuradha SenGupta: Zohra Sehgal, I'm surprised that you're at home and available to do an interview because you're one of the busiest actors in the country today.

Zohra Sehgal: No, I'm very much at home. How much work can I do now? About 20 days ago I was 96 but if I come across something interesting I take it.

Anuradha SenGupta: But you enjoy working and performing?

Zohra Sehgal: Of course I do. Acting is the only thing I enjoy apart from kissing my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Anuradha SenGupta: When people approach you to do films or plays, how do you decide on taking up the role?

Zohra Sehgal: This is one thing I want to talk about. I have hardly ever refused a role. If I get a bad role, I take it up and work on it. Even when I was working with Balki, or as I call him Balti in Cheeni Kum, he had certain ideas which I felt didn't go with the character.

For instance, he wanted me to do a high-five with Tabu, so I said that a character of that age would not do a high-five but instead would gently hold Tabu's chin and compliment her on her beauty. And even with the dialogues, if there were a word of Urdu, which is incorrect, I would correct it. So he listened to all my suggestions. But of course my role in Cheeni Kum is just lovely and I really enjoyed portraying it.

Anuradha SenGupta: How do you decide on what project to say yes to?

Zohra Sehgal: First I look at the whole story and then I look at my part. Then I analyse, how much importance does my role have, as I'm a person who loves to be at the centre stage. And I have to be careful about the fact that I'm a great show off. When I was doing Bhaji on the Beach with Gurinder Chadha, I told her that I'm very capable of going over the top so please pull me back and she told me not to worry. So I tell myself the importance of my character. Then I copy my dialogues to my register and memorise them.

Anuradha SenGupta: In what language do you copy your dialogues?

Zohra Sehgal: I copy them in Urdu since my mother tongue is Urdu. I can't write in any other language. These days they send the script in Roman, which is very difficult to read and understand. So first I write it and then I learn it while walking in the room. I try and give each sentence a different interpretation.

Anuradha SenGupta: While Zohra's acting career started in the 1940s, it's only in the 1980s that it started flourishing. For two decades, starting in 1962, when she moved to London, she survived on small roles and odd jobs. It was after the TV series based on The Jewel in the Crown, that was popular both in India and the UK that there was no looking back.

Zohra Sehgal: What I really enjoyed was doing a silly film here in Bollywood called Chalo Ishq Ladaaye in which I slapped Govinda every five minutes and in which I rode a motorbike. That was the most enjoyable film. And on the stage in England I did a film as a Chinese because I look very Chinese; in Primary English Class with Orange Tree Theatre. It was so successful that it came to the Westend and played at the Windom. So these were the two roles I really enjoyed doing.