Madhoo Recalls Filming ‘Horrible' Kissing Scene In 90s: ‘Wasn't Told To Me Beforehand'
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Madhoo Shah reveals that the only deal-breaker for her was not doing explicit scenes onscreen and how she wishes to do what Shabana Azmi (who played queer) did in Fire someday.
Madhoo Shah, who rose to fame with Mani Ratnam's Roja, believes that she had a rather 'gharelu' image and that it was her 'upbringing' that didn't let her do bold films. In her own words, the only deal-breaker that she had was to not do explicit scenes onscreen. 'And that's the only reason why I turned down films. Otherwise, I said yes to everything that came my way," she tells News18 Showsha exclusively. However, there's this one time that she had kissed her co-star, who she decides not to name, in a film, which didn't turn out to be a very pleasant experience.
Recalling the episode, she says, 'It wasn't the kind of kiss that we see in films today. It was more like a peck on the lips but that made me feel really bad." In fact, she came to know about it only when she reached the sets. 'That I was required to kiss wasn't something that was conveyed to me before I began shooting. When I was told, they took me to the side and we had a conversation. They explained to me why it was important and that's why I did it. But it was the most horrible and non-convincing thing I had to do," Madhoo shares.
Eventually, she decided to let it go and it made its way to the final cut of the film. 'The kiss didn't even serve any purpose. I didn't even have a conversation with the director to not include that scene in the film. I let it pass. I was too young in every way and not just by age. Today, 22-year-olds and 24-year-olds are so clever and exposed. At 22, I was very naïve," says the actor, who will next be seen in Kannappa.
However, it was Deepa Mehta's 1996 film Fire where Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das played lesbian lovers that began to change her perception about onscreen intimacy. 'I don't mean to say that onscreen kissing is a bad thing. When I saw Fire starring actors like Shabana ji, I thought they really broke the barrier of their own conditioning, which I was unable to do back then. I don't think I can do what they did even now. I appreciate actors who can shave their heads off or play lesbians in films," Madhoo remarks.
Having said that, she looks forward to coming out of her own inhibitions by taking baby steps at this phase of her career. 'To separate yourself as a person and an actor and break psychological barriers is something that I want to do in my own way. Back in the day, I was just a girl who wanted to be a movie star. Today, I'm an actor who can wants to do different kinds of roles. I want to see how much I can break my own conditioning and transform myself and if I can play a role as convincingly as Shabana ji did in Fire," she says.
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