Daring to be different
Just days before the release of her Bollywood debut in Hello Zindagi, Mrunmayee Lagoo is surprisingly not nervous but excited. No, it’s not over confidence speaking but she says that she has overcome her initial jitters of facing the camera a long time ago, when she did two Marathi movies.
She is excited because the release of Hello Zindagi was not an easy one. “The film was shot almost two years ago but somehow the producers found it very difficult to get it released due to its unconventional subject. But now I am happy that the audience will finally get to see something different,” says Mrunmayee.
On her role in the film, Mrunmayee says that she plays a girl called Kavita who has just passed out of college. The movie, while touching upon the issue of conserving Olive Ridley turtles, also throws light on the observations of the present society. “This will make us realise how women of today are adapting to the changing scenario around them and how parenting today has become more and more challenging,” she says. Unlike a conventional actress, Mrunmayee has even done work behind the camera as an assistant director for Raju Hirani’s 3 Idiots and Karan Johar’s Stepmom remake. The experience of being both before and behind the camera has been a wholesome one for her. “The switch was difficult but a wholesome one. Working behind the camera, one becomes more involved with the entire movie. There are more responsibilities. At the same time, when you transform in front of the camera, you are more in sync with the role,” says Mrunmayee, who prefers acting.
Having an unconventional role for her very first film, one wonders whether she is open to more ‘filmy’ roles. “It would be fantastic to do a love story, running around the trees kind-of-role. But I wonder if directors can see me in those kind of roles,” she says. For this multi-faceted girl, who has even tried a hand in directing a play, talent runs in the family, with her mother being actress Reema Lagoo. “Expectations and comparisons are only natural, so I don’t mind being compared to her. Both of us are so different and similar at the same time,” says Mrunmayee. “While she is spontaneous, I am the kind of person who needs to plan everything. But our methods of acting, food habits and even lazing around and watching films are things we share,” she says.
Currently on a break, Mrunmayee wants to get back to writing and may even take up direction. So will one get to see her and her mom sharing screen space someday? “I sure do hope so. I would love to direct my mom but nothing is planned as yet,” she signs off.
