HOT right now actress Janhvi Kapoor froze herself for newly released movie Mili.
The gripping Hindi remake of hit 2019 Malayalam movie Helen sees her portray a young woman who gets trapped ina giant freezer overnight and must find a way to stay alive.
The survival thriller adds to diverse roles the rising star has taken on, including one of this year’s best reviewed films Good Luck Jerry, and 2021 horror comedy Roohi.
She has also worked with her producer father Boney Kapoor for the first time on the challenging project, which is dramatically different to other commercial Bollywood films released this year.
The talented actress was, not surprisingly, feeling confident when Eastern Eye caught up with her to discuss Mili, positivity surrounding her performances, future hopes, freezing, and great advice she got.
It has been a wonderful start to your career. How much do all the positive reviews to your films and performances mean to you?
(Smiles) Thank you for saying that. Oh, the positivity really means a lot to me. I mean I’m doing the work for people’s acceptance and validation, or at least a part of me is, so it’s definitely a positive reinforcement.
Does the positivity surrounding you put pressure on you or motivate you further?
I think it does motivate me further, but I try to keep myself as away from all the noises as possible, whether it’s positive or negative, I try not to take it too seriously and just focus on my work, and give my best every time.
COOL RUNNINGS: Janhvi Kapoor
You have made really interesting choices in diverse genres. How have you been selecting your films?
I think my approach has always been to look for those interesting challenges that take me away from any kind of comfort zone. If anything is a challenge, I think I automatically get excited. Also, I have to be moved by the content and story. I think the intention of the filmmaker has always been very important to me.
What made you want to be part of Mili?
The fact that it was such a big challenge. The fact that my father was so moved by the original film and felt so deeply that we should make it again. To have the original director Mathukutty (Xavier) was also a factor. I liked interacting with him and really do think he is a very gifted filmmaker.
What was the biggest challenge of playing this role?
I think the portions we shot in the freezer, because they had built an actual freezer for me that was at minus 15-16 degrees at all times, and we actually shot in it and that was intense. It took a toll on my mental health because I would dream of still being in a freezer, when I came back home after shooting and went to sleep. I was spending up to 15 hours a day in the freezer and crying for most of the day, so I fell ill and was on painkillers for two to three days. Even the director became unwell.
How does this compare to the original (Helen) it is a remake of?
I think, obviously, the setting is different. I think Mili as a character is a little different from Helen. The screenplay is the same, but I guess the backdrop, context, and treatment is a bit different.
What is your own favourite moment in the film Mili?
You know, to be very honest, I have no memory of what I shot in the freezer, as it was very traumatic and intense. But my own favourite moment is the scene in the movie theatre that I shot with Manoj (Pahwa) sir, who plays my father, and Sunny Kaushal, who plays my boyfriend in the film. I thought it was cute. I think the freezer scene will make a big impact with audiences.
Janhvi Kapoor in Mili.
Your character in the film gets trapped and needs to survive, but what are you like under pressure?
I think I work well under pressure. I believe in keeping the mind calm. If you can do that then I think it makes things a little easier.
One actress said that she started crying because it was so cold when she shot for a movie. What are you like with cold temperatures?
I think after Mili, I’ll probably have a lot of PTSD, but during the course of it I think that sometimes my brain would just go numb, which is problematic when you are in front of a camera. But I think it also served the purpose of me trying to be as alive in the moment as possible. After this, I will be able to handle any cold weather.
What was it like working on a movie where your father Boney Kapoor is producing?
It was interesting. I think we felt like a team, and it was nice to get to know my father on a professional capacity, after only hearing so many stories about him my whole life. I hope it proves to be successful as a venture for both of us and we get to work together again on a project.
What is the best advice your father has given you?
The one thing he said that always remains with me is to ‘follow your heart’ and that has served me well so far.
Would you share a memorable moment or story from the making of this film?
There were moments in the freezer I have forgotten because my brain went numb. But a memory I have is after shoot one day, all of us went rafting in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. That’s where we shot a majority of the second half of the film. Uttarakhand is a beautiful state, and every minute I got to explore Dehradun and Mussoorie was amazing.
Janhvi Kapoor with Manoj Pahwa in Mili.
You seem to be making all the right moves. What is the plan going forward?
I have Bawaal, which is a film that I’ve done with Varun Dhawan that releases in April, and then I have Mr and Mrs Mahi that I’m shooting for currently. So, I am just going to keep following my heart and am looking forward to the next challenge.
You seemed to have stayed ice-cool throughout your rise. What keeps you so grounded?
My family keeps me grounded, and I am really thankful for that. They have been a great source of strength and support.
Do you have a dream role?
I am at the beginning of my career, so there are many roles I would love to play. I think either a period film, comedy or a love story comes to mind immediately.
Do you see yourself working in the West?
The world is becoming smaller and cinematic boundaries are disappearing, so yes, I’m actually very keen to work in the West and hope to find a great project.
Why should we all watch Mili?
Everyone should watch Mili because it’s an experience that’s meant to be witnessed in a theatre. It is an immersive film and has got a lot of heart. It’s a simple story but it’s extremely thrilling. It’s an edge-of-the-seat thriller and has got a little bit of everything for audiences. It’s got music by AR Rahman, and great actors like Manoj (Pahwa) sir and Sunny (Kaushal). It’s a thriller, but also has romance and family drama. I think it’s extremely wholesome as a film and definitely will be a new experience for audiences.
Mili is in cinemas now
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A seated Jain enlightened teacherAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Ganesha from JavaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Chinese silk painting depicting the BuddhaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
ArdhanarishvaraAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Head of a grimacing yakshaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
NagaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Bimaran casketAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Hunia Chawla
A still from rehearsal
Them performing liveNajmuddin Saifuddin Qawwal Group
The cast of Marriage Material in key moments from the play, including Avita Jay, Kiran Landa, Omar Malik, Irfan Shamji and Anoushka Deshmukh
Sathnam Sanghera’s 'Marriage Material' adapted into bold new play on conformity
The play Marriage Material at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre is Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s adaptation of Sathnam Sanghera’s novel of the same name, which first came out in 2013.
She is lucky to have Iqbal Khan direct Marriage Material. The play, a co-production with the Birmingham Rep, is set in the late 1960s. Mr and Mrs Bains (played by Jaz Singh Deol and Avita Jay) run a corner shop in Wolverhampton. Their younger daughter, Surinder (Anoushka Deshmukh), is 16, her sister Kamaljit (Kiran Landa) is just a bit older.
They have a neighbour, Patwant Dhanda (Irfan Shamji), who, as we shall soon see, is not a very pleasant man. In fact, he comes across just as racist as Enoch Powell, who represented Wolverhampton South West for the Tories from 1950 to 1974.
It will be recalled this was a time when Sikhs working on the buses were told they couldn’t wear a turban. That was a hard-fought battle that had to be won.
The Bains, meanwhile, simply want to get their girls married off.
Nothing new here, I thought.
What makes the tale different is that the plot twists and turns down the generations. Mr Dhanda, who has the makings of a paedophile, makes a pitch for one of the girls when Mr Bains dies early in the play. “A life with no man in the house is no life,” he informs the newly widowed Mrs Bains.
Mr Dhanda has a wife but she has returned to India so he considers himself to be a free man.
Surinder’s English teacher from school, Miss Flanagan (Celeste Dodwell), who is also head of the fifth form, tells Mrs Bains about her daughter: “I don’t want to embarrass you, but she is bright. Ridiculously bright.”
She adds: “Mrs Bains, I think it would be a pity if Surinder didn’t stay on at school.” The initial response from Mrs Bains is not encouraging: “Too much education makes people’s brains get mixed up, they don’t sleep at night…”
But she is finally persuaded that Surinder should be allowed to stay on for a while longer before being married off.
Mr Bains was very old school. When Surinder confides she would one day like to be “a somebody”, he is amused that “my daughter wants to be a somebody”.
“Like you,” she tells her father.
Mr Bains consoles his daughter: “We will find a somebody for you to marry.”
At the point of a possible marriage, however, Surinder is sweet-talked by chocolate salesman Jim Wilson (Tommy Belshaw) into running away with him. They share a love of literature, and he calls her “Sue Bains”. But the relationship does not end well.
Once she has left, Surinder is written off as “dead” by her family. The story that is circulated is that she was only 16 when she was killed in a car crash. That’s better than to let on that she ran off with a white man.
By the time she is reconciled with her sister towards the end of the play, a great deal has changed. Kamaljit married Tanvir Banga (Omar Malik), a young man who helped out in the Bains’ corner shop. When the two sisters meet again, Tanvir has also died. But he and Kamaljit had a son, Arjan Banga (Jaz Singh Deol doubles up for this role after the death of Mr Bains). He has come home after his father’s death to help his mother who is still running the family corner shop.
Meanwhile, Mr Dhanda’s business has prospered. He now has a son, Ranjit Dhanda (the role is taken by Omar Malik after Tanvir’s death), and he is nearly as unpleasant as his father.
Arjan has an English fiancée, Claire (Celeste Dodwell). In London, Arjan worked as a creative director. But after deciding to stay in Wolverhampton to help his mother, he decides he cannot marry Claire because she is white. In other words, Asians are not free of racism, either. Happily, at the end, the couple are reconciled.
As for Surinder, she parted company with Jim Wilson after realising he was all talk, depended on her for money and had failed to earn a penny from his literary pretensions. She had prospered, though, as a hotel owner and had been transformed in time into a well-groomed businesswoman. After being tracked down by Arjan, she decides to return to her roots in Wolverhampton and help Kamaljit run the family corner shop. Perhaps 50 years had passed during the passage of the play.
Being subjected to racism turned some Asians into racists themselves. The word goreh (white person) is repeatedly spat out with venom. Maybe it is worth remembering the play’s audience isn’t exclusively Asian – white folk are watching as well. And maybe some of the toilet humour ridiculing white people, which always makes me cringe, could be cut out.
In Sanghera’s novel, there is a quote from Enoch Powell’s speech in November 1968: “The West Indian or Asian does not, by being born in England, become an Englishman. In law he becomes a United Kingdom citizen by birth; in fact, he is a west Indian or an Asian still... he will by the very nature of things have lost one country without gaining another, lost one nationality without acquiring a new one. Time is running out against us and them. With the lapse of a generation or so we shall at last have succeeded – to the benefit of nobody – in reproducing ‘in England’s green and pleasant land’ the haunting tragedy of the US.”
In Marriage Material, where the acting is marvellous (apart from Mr Dhanda’s Indian mannerisms and accent being overdone) we do travel across a couple of generations.
There is a scene when Tanvir rejects Mr Dhanda’s vision of creating a little Punjab in Wolverhampton.
Mr Dhanda wants to take over the Bains’ corner shop and is putting pressure on Tanvir to sign the papers. He says: “In this country, money is the path to freedom.”
“Sign, please,” he instructs Tanvir. “We must make sure our children learn to behave nicely, according to our rules.”
He insists: “We maintain our identity so we can be ourselves.”
Tanvir disagrees: “We can be us here. With the goreh.”
Dhanda warns him: “Then we will be inviting chaos.”
Tanvir’s comment is telling: “You sound like Enoch.”
Kamaljit, who is expecting a baby with her husband Tanvir, says: “I would like my child to grow up knowing the history of the Gurus and to read the Granth Sahib. And to love their culture.”
Tanvir tells his wife: “I would like my child to go to the finest schools, to cheer for England in the World Cup and eat Yorkshire pudding on a Sunday.”
Kamaljit sets out a dream that has perhaps come to pass with many third and fourth generation British Asians: “Maybe our child can do both.” Much, much later, in a throwback to the past, we learn of Surinder’s O-level results: “Biology A, Chemistry A, English Language A, English Literature A, French A, History B, Latin A, Mathematics A, Physics A…”
Kamaljit tells her younger sister: “Never mind about the B.”
And that is quintessentially Asian. Their acting is outstanding.
Marriage Material is at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre until June 21, and at the Birmingham Rep from June 25-July 5