Actress Richa Chadha, who is garnering praise for her work in auteur Sanjay Leela Bhansali's OTT debut 'Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar', shared thﷺat she was offered a different role in the show but she chose the cha✱racter of Lajjo.
The actress shared that despite being offered 🗹a role with more screen time, she decided to portray La꧟jjo owing to her heartbreaking arc in the show.
Richa felt that the resemblance of her character in the show to Meena Kumari from ‘Pakeezah’ and a female version of Devdas would definitely leave🍒 an impact.
Reflecting on her decision, Richa said: "When I was approached for 'Heeramandi', at the time Sanjay was𒐪 the showrunner, and I had been offered another part, the one with more screen time for sure. But because an actor also needs to see what's in here th🔯at's new for me, I chose Lajjo."
She continued, “I have experimented with characters that have a grey shade, like Bholi Punjaban or Tara in ‘Madam Chief Minister’. Basically, I get accused of playing only em﷽powered characters, so I felt the need to break that stereotype and surprise the audience. I wanted to play a part of a hopeless romantic and leave the audience with go🦄oseflesh. That's exactly what's happening. People are calling me in tears.”
R🅘icha also revealed that when SLB asked her to check the character of Lajjo, she was immediately drawn to the role.
Furthermore, the Kathak dance sequence performed by Lajjo holds special significa💙nce fo𝔍r Richa, a trained Kathak dancer herself.
"I've always harboured a desire to incorporate Kathak dance into my on-screen roles, and 'Heeramandi' provided the perfect opportunity to do so. As a trained Kathak dancer, bringing Lajjo's dance number to life was a fulfilling 🀅experience for me, adding another layer of authenticity to the character,” she added.
‘Heeramandi: The ☂Diamond Bazaar’ is streaming on Netflix.
