Nikita Dutta on working with Ram Madhvani: ‘It’s a privilege'

Nikita Dutta has been a history buff since childhood So when Ram Madhvanirsquos The Waking of a Nation came her way she knew she had to be part of it Even when the filmmaker mentioned the lsquono grooming clausersquo for the character she agreed without hesitation The Waking of a Nation revolves around the Hunter Commission which is an investigation of the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre The actor who previously starred in Ek Duje Ke Vaaste 2016 Gold 2018 Kabir Singh 2019 The Big Bull 2021 and Khakee The Bihar Chapter 2022 among other things discusses the privilege of working in a Madhvani show and why it features one of the ldquostrongest charactersrdquo she has ever playedEdited excerpts from the interviewHow did you become part of The Waking of a NationI was called for this show while attending yoga school I had to audition over the phone which I had always believed never worked because there was no brief I initially resisted as the scene was one of the toughest in the show But they insisted so I recorded it without much thought A week later they called me When I visited the office Ram sir explained his 360degree shooting stylemdashno rehearsals no lighting no marks He also asked if I was okay giving up vanity completely for the 1919 setting I immediately agreed I completed my yoga school and was vacationing in the Maldives when I got the call welcoming me on boardRam MadhvaniWas it easy to give up vanity completelyWhen we started workshops I realised how much vanity I had to abandon While I had no issue with it living without waxing or makeup for three months was more challenging than expected However in front of the camera or during workshops I felt free and liberated It gave me a new sense of independence and allowed me to experimentWhat were the workshops likeThe workshops focused on two aspects getting comfortable with the 360degree shooting style and understanding the periodrsquos nuances We did extensive improvisations and worked on speech and reactions from that era So they made us go through many workshops Thatrsquos why we were able to pull it off We were properly cooked by the time we came on setHow much did you know about the Hunter CommissionI of course have read about it because I am quite a history buff The period of Indiarsquos independence struggle is something Irsquove always been very fascinated with What I did realise is that there are a lot of people who donrsquot know about this chapter of history Of course we all know about the Jallianwala Bagh massacre but we do not know what happened before and after it The Waking of a Nation is inspired by all those historical events while we have also fictionalised it a bit I remember Ram sir had gifted us a book when we just started with our workshops and it had a lot of firsthand testimonies of people who have been a victim or have lost their relatives in the massacre That was hardhittingWhat excited you most about the eraIn the show I run a printing press with my friend Albaksh played by Sahil Mehta We shot in an actual 1919 printing press with fully functional machines Witnessing how newspapers were printedmdashlike small alphabets are put together on a slate and how an article comes together and the amount of strength you had to apply on it to printmdashwas fascinatingWhat do you think of Ram Madhvani as a filmmakerI think hersquos one of the finest filmmakers I have worked with He is one of the nicest persons apart from being a great filmmaker There is of course his process of shooting which is widely discussed but there is so much more than that Not many filmmakers give a lot of substance and priority to their women characters but if you see his body of workmdashfrom Neerja 2016 to Aaryamdashyou will see the women playing strong characters You donrsquot just see Sonam Kapoor but also notice Shabana Azmi marsquoamrsquos character standing out He says he gets his inspiration from the women around him because hersquos surrounded by strong women from his wife to his mother That reflects not just in front of the camera but even off it This entire show has been shot by four women cinematographers They have been holding those heavy cameras on their shoulders and shooting There is no concept of trolleys in his world of filmmaking He took care of all the basics on set even crew members He made sure we had clean toilets exclusively for the women in all sorts of locations that wersquove shotHow is your character Poonam depictedShe is a strong bold and fierce womanmdashnot in the stereotypical loud Punjabi way Hersquos chosen to show me as a woman who has a voice who worked back in the day and as someone who can take control of situations within her capabilities As an actor itrsquos not every day that you get to play characters like this It has been a privilege to be part of his filmmaking world This is probably one of the strongest characters Irsquove portrayed on screen in my life