I am a friend to my daughter unlike my character in Ram-Leela – Supriya Pathak

If there is one actress who has left everyone spell bound with her magnificent acting in Ram-Leela, it has to be Supriya Pathak. The veteran actress delivered a standout performance as Deepika Padukone’s mother and impressed one and all with her terrific and intimidating screen presence. As an autocratic matriarch who rules her clan with an iron-fist, Supriya made quite a mark. The gory scene where she cuts off Deepika’s ring finger using a betel nut cutter is enough to send chill spiraling down the spine of even the stone-hearted. When Tellychakkar.com met Supriya for a chit-chat, we couldn’t help but ask how scary a mother she is in real life. “Not at all. My reel character in Ram-Leela and real-life character are poles apart. I don’t think I am like that at all in my real life. I am more of a friend than a mother with my daughter,” said Supriya and proceeded to explain the reason behind it. “ My mother gave birth to me when she was 40. So we had a major age difference because of which she was stricter and was more of the ‘You listen to me’ kinds. And I had to listen because I didn’t have a choice then. So there was always this mother-daughter tussle between us in a way. So when I had a daughter I wanted to make sure there was no tussle between us because of a mother-daughter relation. So I am more like a friend to her today. “ For the moment, Supriya is basking in glory of all the accolades that is flowing her way following her brilliant performance. When asked how she landed this character, Supriya said, “I was first approached with this character by Shruti who was the casting director for the movie. At that time my character was not entirely opened to me. I then met Sanjay sir and he asked me if I would like to have a script reading to which I said yes. And once I listened to the script, I was so happy with the role that he had offered me that I immediately said yes.” Supriya however turned coy and subsequently diplomatic when we asked her if this was the boldest movie from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s stables. “For me, it’s a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film,” said Supriya before signing off. Well, all we can say is, only Sanjay has the guts to direct a bold subject in a classy way.