Anurita Jha's dad said ‘han han bindas karo’ when she told him about her Ashram 3 intimate scene
Anurita Jha shares she had a crush on Aashram 3 co-star Bobby Deol, opens up on taking up her first intimate scene, and more in this interview with Hindustan Times.
Actor Anurita Jha of Mithila Makhan fame has opened up about being apprehensive of working in the film and how Prakash Jha helped her feel safe while shooting an intimate scene for Aashram 3. Anurita will be seen again as Kavita in the third season of Prakash Jha's web series Aashram. In this interview with Hindustan Times, she opens up about her role, character graph, struggles, and more. (Also read: Prakash Jha is ‘disgusted’ with Bollywood actors)
Talking about filming an intimate scene in Aashram 3, Anurita said, "I have informed my family beforehand. So I am very excited, this is the first time for me, an intimate scene. I have not done it so far in my career. Before taking it up, I called my dad and told him ‘This is how it will be papa, should I do it?’ And, he was like 'ha-ha karo, bindaas karo (Yes, go ahead and do it)'. So I was like okay."
She added, “Shooting the scene was comfortable because Prakash Jha is a master of his craft and he trusts you as an actor and makes the environment very safe. When we were shooting, there were just four or five people. Not many people were on the sets. Before the scene, I had a proper conversation with Prakash Jha sir. There were no fears as such that I discussed but I was just not sure how it is done. Because if I have cried before onscreen, I know how to cry, but how to do an intimate scene onscreen? I just shared my apprehensions with him, and he was like 'ho jaega, ho jaega (It will be done)'. You do not want a scene like this to become a vulgar version. Also, I am from Bihar, everybody is very simple in my family and no one has any connection to films. I had all that on my mind.”
Anurita said that her family--father, brother and sister-in-law, have been extremely supportive and always encourage her to do as she wishes. “Also helps because if you can have a conversation with the family, have their support it is great. I am blessed. Earlier, my parents would scold me when they were scared for my safety during my initial days in Mumbai. But now, they are fine.”
Recalling the first time people started recognising her as Aashram actor, she said, “In 2020, I travelled to Manali and people would recognise me in the mask. The funny part was that they recognised me as ‘Kavita Pochewali’. I was like 'yea, that is all I do, mop the floors all day'. They were like ‘will you continue mopping the floors?’ And I would tell them 'please yaar'! Luckily this time, there is no pocha happening at all. I am done with that.”
Elaborating on how her character has progressed, Anurita said, “In the first two seasons, the graph of my character was very low. The self respect of Kavita had been totally crushed, humiliated and ruined. So, that was a very tough part for me. After doing a few scenes, I cried after going back to the hotel after the shooting. Performing something like that gets to you. There is a scene in the second season where I had to lick kheer off the floor, in front of 200 people. That kind of emotion was very heavy. I would carry those emotions and it took some time to let go of those emotions.”
Anurita first rose to fame with her short stint in Anurag Kashyap's 2012 film Gangs of Wasseypur. She played Vineet Kumar Singh's onscreen wife in the crime drama, Shama Parveen. Responding to how her family reacted to her fame, Anurita said, “Outside the house, everyone is like ‘oh my god Shama Parveen, but at home, I am told ’jao bartan saaf karo'. Koi bhav wow nahi de raha hota. Jao chup chgap kaam karo apna (Go and wash the dishes. No one gives me extra respect, I am just supposed to do my work).”
Anurita also shared that she had a crush on Aashram co-star Bobby Deol. “Bobby is very sweet. I think he is the coolest and sweetest person. I am from Katihar (Bihar) and we had a huge crush on him at the time when his Barsaat released. The first time it hit me that I am in a space where Bobby is also there (I was overwhelmed). I had told him that I had a crush on him. We used to sing the song Humko Sirf Tumse Pyar Hai. He is a nice person, has no airs about being a Deol.”
Apart from Gangs of Wasseypur, Anurita also featured in the National Film Award-winning movie, Mithila Makhan. Sharing her apprehensions before taking up the movie by Nitin Chandra, Anurita said, “I was very apprehensive because it is a Bihari film. I realised later that it is a Maithili film (not Bhojpuri). The fact is that a lot of Bhojpuri films are semi-porn and I will be very honest about it. (I also did not want to do it) because you do not want to do regional stuff that is not respected when you want to work in Hindi films because people will be like 'she has worked in regional films so it means she has now work. It happens, I have also said this.”