‘Videsh is about abuse, immigration & imagination’

Preity Zinta has always been Bollywood’s brave babe. Her ‘bravery’ should not be confused with the shallow ‘boldness’ that her contemporaries exhibit by showing off their bodies in skimpily clad outfits. The feisty actress’ strength lies in her selection of roles as well as her ability to speak her mind even off the screen. No wonder Deepa Mehta chose Preity to be a protagonist in her women-oriented social drama Videsh, earlier known as Heaven on Earth. Renuka Vyavahare met Preity Zinta to know more about her internationally acclaimed film Videsh.
What is Videsh all about?
Videsh is a film which shows how the power of imagination helps us elevate our lives when reality becomes simply unbearable. It’s not just a story of Chand who leaves her family residing in India’s small village and goes abroad after marriage only to get subjected to abuse, it’s a story of millions of girls who go through the same dilemma and have no support system in Videsh. It’s a full bodied film in which abuse just plays a small but integral part. The film is also about immigration.

What prompted you to do an off-beat women-oriented social drama?
India has a great culture but there are certain rituals that are often hidden under the carpet. Someone had to talk about these issues that continue bothering women even till today! I was glad Deepa thought I was the one. Also, Videsh was a huge departure from the roles that I was bored doing. I was frustrated playing a woman who knew where she is going in life.

Videsh Heaven on earth Gets A Grade

Deepa Mehta’s film on domestic violence has been given an ‘A’ certificate by the Censor Board.

Videsh , starring Preity Zinta and Vansh Bhardwaj , is the story of a Punjabi woman who marries an NRI in Canada. But as she settles into her new life, she is repeatedly at the receiving end of domestic violence from her husband.

Censor Board officials saw the film last week and found it too violent to be given ‘U’ (Unrestricted Public Exhibition) or ‘U/A’ (Unrestricted exhibition under parental/adult guidance) certificate. They asked director Deepa Mehta to cut down on the violent scenes in the film.

The movie is produced by BR films and its CEO Sanjay Bhutiani told reporters: “The censor board objected to brutality in a few scenes and therefore Deepa and B R Films have decided to go along with the 'A' certificate which would not compromise on the creative integrity of the film.”

Upon the reason for accepting the ‘A’ certificate at the cost of losing young audiences, Bhutiani said: “The essence of the film is to highlight social issues and domestic violence is one of them.”

‘Videsh’ or Heaven On Earth is set to release on March 27.

Preity Zinta-Every scene in 'Videsh' is some woman's story

Bollywood actress Preity Zinta believes that every scene in her forthcoming release "Videsh", a film about a battered Punjabi housewife in Canada, is some woman's story.

The movie deals with domestic violence and Ms. Zinta is confident that women will identify with her character.

"Every scene in this film is some woman's story. It is intense and beautiful. I can't talk enough of the film. I just want every woman, man and family to go and watch this film. It is very important for people to support films like these, which showcase a real slice-of-life," Ms. Zinta told reporters here Friday.

The film, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Deepa Mehta, is about a battered Punjabi housewife in Canada. Ms. Zinta, who plays the lead in the film and has already bagged the best actress award at the Chicago Film Festival, says the subject of the film touched her and it was the realistic nature of the script that she found challenging.

"When Deepa offered me this role, it was a dream come true. I knew it would be a huge step towards something different in my career. It was definitely a difficult role. But it has touched me. Normally we see either black or white characters in films. But very few films offer an actor to play grey characters that are closer to reality. But with this film I got an opportunity to play such a true character," she said.

In "Videsh", which released as "Heaven On Earth" abroad, Zinta is sharing screen space with newcomer Vansh Bhardwaj, but she also has another co-star - a giant snake, that "scared the hell" out of her.

"Vansh, my co-star in the film really surprised me. I was nervous to be cast opposite a newcomer, but he was very good. And I had a snake as my co-star who scared the hell out of me.

"When I was told to shoot with the snake, I acted bold and told the unit that I want a real snake for the scenes, but when I saw the snake I got extremely scared. Still working on this film was the most enriching experience as an actor. When I am 80 years old and I'll look back, I'm sure 'Videsh' will be among the top five in the list of my favourite films," Ms. Zinta said.

The film, slated for release March 27, was mainly shot in Toronto with a short sequence filmed in Chandigarh. It was shot in both Hindi and Punjabi.

Since the actress hails from Himachal Pradesh, she faced problems delivering dialogues in Punjabi.

"Language was an issue with me, I had to learn it. I had to struggle with it. People think that I know Punjabi very well, but that's not true. I had to work on that. The only four words I knew were 'sasriyakaal', 'chak de phatte', 'balle balle' and 'aaho'," she said.

Ms. Zinta also underwent a workshop for the film and her efforts have paid off with a nomination in the best actress category of the 24th Genie Awards, to be held in Canada in April.