New Delhi, Feb 7: Actor Kalki Koechlin says she remembers being “highly stressed” about her Hindi while working on Anurag Kashyap-directed “Dev D”, which released in February 2009 and slowly acquired a cult status.
“Dev D”, starring Abhay Deol in the title role, is a modern take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s much-adapted Bengali novel “Devdas”. It also starred Mahie Gill in the role of Paro. It was Koechlin’s first leading role in Hindi cinema and the actor was still learning Hindi when she landed the role of Leni/Chanda in the movie.
“My memory is of being highly stressed about Hindi. It was when I was still learning Hindi and I got a special tutor for learning all the dialogues. I didn’t understand some of the dialogues but I would be able to say them in my sleep. I was just mugging them. So, it felt like a big exam,” Koechlin told PTI in an interview.
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The film, which completed 15 years of its release on February 6, was the first major hit for Kashyap and all its actors earned critical acclaim for their roles. The soundtrack is considered one of the best works of Amit Trivedi’s career till date with hits like “Emosanal Attyachaar”, “Paayaliya”, “Nayan Tarse”, “Pardesi” and “Aankh Micholi”.
The 41-year-old actor counts “Emosanal Attyachaar” among her favourite songs from the album that she says she still tunes in from time to time. The song was playing when she went to audition for Chanda’s role in the movie and she knew that the movie would do well, she added.
“I went for an audition and they were like listening to the song in the office. I was like, ‘Is that going to be in the film?’ They said, ‘Yes, probably’. And I was like, ‘Okay, I have to be in this (film)” Koechlin said, adding that the film was not an overnight success but gained cult status over time. “That album remains extra special. I sometimes still listen to that… I just love that album.
And I think it really made the film. The choice of using the emotion of music to make the film was really cool.” “Emosanal Attyachaar” video featured a relatively new Nawazuddin Siddiqui as one of the performers and Koechlin remembers it being shot like it was just yesterday.
“I met Nawaz for the first time and he was practising his lines and performance, just behind where they were going to shoot and there was this quiet boy. He was just in a corner and I didn’t know who he was and he was doing his lines and doing his thing.” (PTI)
