Filmmaker Dibakar Banerji says he is impressed with the way actress Parineeti Chopra endured his upcoming violent film "Sandeep Aur Pinky Faarar". He praised Parineeti for channelling her anger on screen to take on her co-actor Arjun Kapoor against whom she is pitted in the film. "Parineeti and I argued endlessly on Sandeep (her character in the film), and I learnt a lot. She is a very strongwilled and combative individual who needs her own answers. I hugely enjoy confrontations on creativity, so that was the high point of our combined work on the film!" Dibakar said.
He added: "The patriarchy, objectification and the muddled woke-but-male gaze of Bollywood has pushed most of our spirited actresses into a gilded box."
Dibakar says the character Sandeep, played by Parineeti, is trying to unbox herself in the film.
"So is Parineeti in the film as Sandy. It was physically and mentally brutal, bruising, challenging, exhausting and it stretched her to her limits. Her animosity with Arjun's character channelled all the real anger I think many actresses constantly hide against the relentless patriarchy and mansplaining they encounter. She knows Sandy is the film," Dibakar said.
Dibakar reveals that the film is centred around Parineeti and it is her character that drives the narrative forward.
He said: "Sandy makes the story happen and yet everyone is trying to explain to Sandy what they think Sandy should do! Both Parineeti and Sandy are smarter than a lot of people they meet, yet they have to hide it and put on their ‘gameface'. Parineeti taught me a lesson about ‘gameface' I'll never forget it and I used it in the film."
Dibakar says Sandeep as a character is a mirror reflection to what actresses go through in the industry every single day.
"How Sandy navigates through the story while trying to protect her life and others' is a mirror of how talented actresses in Bollywood have to manoeuvre for survival. Every bit of that shines through her performance here. She did not hold back and jumped into the unknown. That's the win on the film I'd love the audience to enjoy," the director said.
