‘About whether I’m worried it will blow up into something, no, I’m used to these things.’
‘I am a voice in the city and have said quite a few things that may have ruffled feathers. But I stuck with them because it’s your truth.’

Photograph: Kind courtesy RJ Malishka/Instagram

Malishka Mendonsa aka RJ Malishka gets into the big shoes of Sarojini Naidu in Nikkhil Advani’s ambitious Web series, Freedom At Midnight, and points outs that there were some similarities.

“I think when I got into the getup, I really looked like her. Of course, there was prep work too. She had a huge laugh, which I do as well,” Malishka tells Patcy N/Rediff.com.

How did you land the role of Sarojini Naidu?

Shortly after I did a short film called Parde Mein Rehne Do, I got a call from (Casting Director) Kavish Sinha’s office. They said Freedom At Midnight is coming up and that there’s a role for Sarojini Naidu, and we think you would fit it.

I asked why.

They gave me a 15 to 20 minute character sketch of Sarojini Naidu, which I listened to and said yes.

I went to Kavish’s office, dressed in my mother’s sari, doing my hair up the way she did, and the bindi.

I had played her as a child, when we had to dress up as freedom fighters. There weren’t that many women we could portray, even though women were a huge part of the freedom struggle.

Sarojini Naidu was a prolific writer, a poetess. She sat with the who’s who of society and held her own.

When they told me all this, she sounded like a modern woman but in that era.

When I asked Nikkhil Advani when he cast me, he said because I’ve been on radio for so many years and Malishka has been a disruptor, and Sarojini Naidu was a disruptor.

I think when I got into the getup, I really looked like her. Of course, there was prep work too.

She had a huge laugh, which I do as well.

She was 4’8″.

IMAGE: RJ Malishka Mendonsa as Sarojini Naidu in Nikkhil Advani’s Freedom At Midnight.

How did you prepare for the role?

How much time would it take to put on the prosthetic make-up?

Were you worried that you may get it wrong and land in controversy since everyone has become so sensitive these days?

I was not worried to play this character because it might be misconstrued.

I think I might be the only who has portrayed Sarojini Naidu at such a large extent because we haven’t seen too much of our women freedom fighters.

There was a little fear of whether I would do justice to the character but since I’ve stuck to the brief as much as possible, and my director has approved of most of it, there’s no worry.

About whether I’m worried it will blow up into something, no, I’m used to these things. I am a voice in the city and have said quite a few things that may have ruffled feathers. But I stuck with them because it’s your truth.

IMAGE: RJ Malishka, Sidhant Gupta, Chirag Vora and Rajendra Chawla in Freedom At Midnight.

Did you ever worry that the show may land in controversy due to the sensitive political climate that we have now?

This is a question for Nikkhil. But from what I’ve heard from him, I don’t think actors need to think in this framework. We’re presenting the story of our history, it’s how India came to be India, the structures behind it, the closed door negotiations, how our leaders came to a conclusion… Beyond the controversy, there are so many things you don’t know.

Like, why was August 15 chosen to be the date when we would get independence?

Sarojini is very tongue-in-cheek and speaks her mind, so she refers to it at one point in the show.

How was the line of Partition drawn?

How did Pandit Nehru end up being the prime minister of the country?

There are so many things we don’t know.

IMAGE: RJ Malishka with Director Nikkhil Advani. Photograph: Kind courtesy Malishka/Instagram

How is it working with Nikkhil Advani?

Nikkhil is brave.

I’ve known him as the director of so many wonderful films, Kal Ho Naa Ho being the most important one.

I met him many years ago. The first impression I got is that the man is prepared. He’s prepared enough to be self-assured at this point.

This is not an easy thing to make. It’s a period show, where you’re showing Partition. You’re showing different cities, different countries.

On set, we were always on our toes. Nikkhil knows exactly what he wants.

He gives his actors a free reign. He will explain to you and then will leave you to your own devices.

When I saw the trailer, I had tears in my eyes.

I wrote to Nikkhil saying, I hope you’re very proud of what you have made, even before seeing the whole show.

I think he’ll be very proud of putting something like this out in the universe. What a poignant thing to make and what an amazing time to do it!

There were a lot of versatile actors who worked on this project, like Arif Zakaria, Chirag Vora, Siddhant Gupta, Rajendra Chawla and Ira Dubey. What did you learn from them?

One of the things I definitely learnt is no matter how intense a set is, if you have a group of actors that know their job and are able to bring a team together, you’re in good hands.

We had a lot of fun off set.

Sometimes even when we were in character because there would be long waiting hours.

You learn how to be at ease, you learn how to be better.

You learn the give and take of acting, especially if there’s a good actor who knows what he’s doing.

The biggest learning is that you can’t get tired in this profession.

You see the glamour but not the hard work because between action and cut, there is that whole universe…

You could have done a two-minute take or a 30-second take but you may have to wait for 20 minutes, an hour or six hours before your next shot is up.

How to navigate that universe while still staying buoyant, while still staying happy, while still staying in your character… if you are chatting and your director calls and suddenly there’s an intense scene, how to be able to get into that.

I learned about how you can cultivate new friends when it’s a nice, secure environment and everyone knows what they’re doing.