JOIN USArun, who made a mark with her intense performance as Mahamanga in 'Jodhaa-Akbar', said she would like to portray many women politicians like Mayawati and Uma Bharti but her favourite is Mamata.
"I want to play Mamata Banerjee on screen. I want to wear the rubber chappals and white cotton saree, learn Bengali and roam around the streets of Kolkata like her," Arun told PTI. The actress, who was last seen in Shyam Benegal's 'Well Done Abba', said she is in complete awe of the Trinamool Congress leader, who toppled the 34-year-old CPI(M) government in Bengal recently.
"I think she is very intelligent. I have heard her speak at a recent film festival and I was in total awe of her. I sent her a congratulatory message after she won the Bengal elections," she added.
Arun, who was in the capital recently to promote her crossover film ' West is West', sequel to the acclaimed 'East is East'(1999) , is excited and nervous about her next release. "'West is West' is my first international film and there is a turmoil within me. I am very excited and anxious to see the reaction of the Indian audience.
"I play Basheera Khan, the first wife of the protagonist George Khan (played by Om Puri). She is a woman whose husband left her 30 years ago and she has been a silent sufferer," she said.
Although the film is based in Pakistan, it was shot in a small village near Chandigarh and Arun had to learn the rustic 'Urdu-Punjabi' dialect to give a realistic feel to her role. "I learnt the Urdu-Punjabi for this film, which was difficult for me. But I wanted to do justice to the role. I studied the behaviour of women in the villages of Panjab for my reference," she said.
Other than singing and acting in films, Ila is also busy with theatre and has adapted Henrick Ibsen's 'Lady from The Sea' into a play set in Rajasthan. "I have adapted the famous play and set it in rural Rajasthan. I have also composed the music and my daughter Ishita is playing the lead. It is a woman-centric play and I am taking it to all the big cities.
"Next month I am going to Kolkata and I will send a personal invitation to Miss Banerjee to come and watch it," added Arun.