EXCLUSIVE: RJ Malishka Mendonsa on portraying the witty side of Sarojini Naidu in Freedom At Midnight, “We have only seen freedom fighters being serious, this can’t be all the time” : Bollywood News
Malishka Mendonsa, popularly known as RJ Malishka, has been an iconic name in the field of radio for over two decades. Apart from her work on the radio sphere, she has also acted in quite a few projects, either playing herself or a fictional RJ. But in 2022, she played her first fictional and central character in Amazon miniTV’s short film Parde Mein Rehne Do.
EXCLUSIVE: RJ Malishka Mendonsa on portraying the witty side of Sarojini Naidu in Freedom At Midnight, “We have only seen freedom fighters being serious, this can’t be all the time”
Malishka has now made her web-series debut in Nikkhil Advani’s Sony LIV historical Freedom At Midnight, where she has plays the freedom fighter and social reformer Sarojini Naidu. Amid receiving rave reviews for her work, Malishka spoke about how she was selected to play a real character, her experience of shooting the show and much more in an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama.
You have taken countless interviews as an RJ over the years. How does it feel when your interview is being taken?
And that too by an old listener of mine (laughs). I am now able to understand how it feels to be on the other side. Now, I realize both perspectives. It is a very unique place to be. I enjoyed it. And I get to learn a lot. Like, how much your anxiety is on this and the other side.
You have made your web series debut in this show by playing a real historical figure like Sarojini Naidu. How did it all happen?
Obviously, maine bohat punya kamaye honge (laughs). I had acted in a short film in 2022 called Parde Mein Rehne Do. It did quite well; it was on Amazon mini. I had sent its trailer to Shah Rukh Khan. And he wrote back to me, and he was quite impressed. After that, I was reaching out to people and people were reaching out to me. I think it was fate because at that time only they were casting for Freedom At Midnight.
There are several things you need to remember in historical shows. First is to act and be the part. Secondly, a huge part is can we convincingly make this person look like the character. Right from the start, I was told that I looked like the character in terms of height and even facial features. I had played Sarojini Naidu ji during my childhood in school. So, I always loved her as a freedom fighter and character.
I had auditioned with Kavish Sinha, along with a lot of people. I was very excited about it. Months later they came back to me and said, “Ab tum hi ho Sarojini. Banogi na?” I was like, “Of course.” Nikkhil Advani said that this is an inspired casting because Malishka, in real life, also has been a disruptor. Like, standing up for things and making a change. He said Sarojini Naidu was also like that. So, all the things came together.
What was your reaction when you came to know that you have bagged this role?
Main toh bohat naachi. I was very excited. Even for the audition, they were so particular. I was sent an 18–20-minute voice note telling me who Sarojini Naidu was, everything from her achievements in the political field to the fact that she stood up for women’s rights, she was the first woman President of INC (Indian National Congress), she was the governor of the United Province, etc. I was told in detail how she would react, etc. Maine woh sab ghont ke peeya tha (and gave the audition). But I got to know the result of the audition after very long. And we started shooting a year after that.
What was your preparation process like?
Initially, the preparation process was entirely like “Hay Allah, kya karoon?” (laughs). My director already saw Sarojini Naidu in me. When I dressed up like her, I saw myself in the mirror, I was like, “Wah, this is exactly like her.” I was then told quite a few things about her. I was told she was witty. Whenever she came, she would light up the room.
I was coming to the same. Your character has been shown to be quite humorous. Same is the case with other characters too in the show. They are all shown to be very human, like everyone else
Whenever you think about freedom fighters, we have this image of someone standing upright with their eyes in a particular way. They are always serious. We haven’t seen them cracking jokes. So, in this show, they have shown Sarojini Naidu’s human side. In fact, that’s with everyone, especially if you see the conversation between Nehru and Patel. We have rarely seen their human side, which is very challenging. Thanks for asking this question. This is the first time I am answering it. To portray their human side is so much better and scarier because the janta hasn’t seen these freedom fighters. Like, that little humour between Nehru and Patel or the subtle war of words between Nehru and Jinnah, which is so real. In our history books and other portrayals, we have only seen them being serious and saying serious things. This can’t be all the time. They have to have a human side.
Nikkhil helped me a lot. At one point, I was told that I need to understand Bengali. I said I will do that; I will just need some time. But that did not come up. Otherwise also a lot of work has been done. There is attention to detail in costumes. Even the prosthetics that brought me alive as older Sarojini Naidu. We also had dialect training.
How did you find Nikkhil Advani, on and off set?
Nikkhil Advani has a prolific body of work that keeps growing. He is a history buff, which I found out as time went by. He was working on this script for four years. I remember his passion for generally the history of our times and also our current times, about the politics of our country. It’s not necessary that he will speak about it. But you can tell just by the way he directs you. He is also the kind of director who gives a lot of freedom to his actors to interpret the character. Eventually, we also managed some fun moments on sets.
What next is in store after Freedom At Midnight?
Dekho, tum mujhe saalon se jaante ho. Something or the other I will keep doing. I always aim to explore all my talents. But also, because I think there is so much happening in the market, I really prefer choosing my projects. The acting ka keeda has bit me. But I want people to come up with good projects, so that I can do good stuff. Just after this call, I have to speak to someone regarding casting. I think the struggle real for everyone. People keep telling me, “Aapko toh sab log jaante hain.” But sab logon ka aap ko jaan na aur sab logon ka aapko ek role mein imagine karna bohat alag alag cheezen hoti hain. I am really thankful that the team of Nikkil Advani imagined me (in the role of Sarojini Naidu).
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