30th June 2023,Mumbai: “The title fits what happened with my film quite well.” With a contented expression on her face, Sara Ali Khan exclaims, “When everyone was going bachke, we went the hatke route.” Zara Hatke Zara Bachke , her movie With its lengthy legs has been playing in theatres for almost a month, astonished everyone.
“One thing is that your movie passes the Monday test. My mum (actress Amrita Singh) is Twitter-obsessed, and she keeps sending me stories like ‘fourth weekend is higher than the third’ and other such ones. The only form of reward I find preferable is the love of the audience”, she says with a smile. “I’ve never really understood numbers that much.”
More than anything else, the 26-year-old is relieved that the myth that people no longer visit theatre has been debunked. “The fact that we are back makes me pleased. Bauhaut log bolte the ‘badi film honi chahiye, action film honi chahiye, sirf tabhi big screen par aayegi’ But it’s not required. I’ve always believed that telling true stories will move people’s hearts, even though I may not have fully believed it myself. I’m glad we did stand our ground. Vicky and I did everything in our power to promote this movie”, says Khan. Tere Vaaste was quickly shot in just six hours despite the fact that the pair only had two weeks to market the movie!
She may have claimed that she doesn’t comprehend maths, but actresses are evaluated based on how well they perform in movies. Khan concurs, saying, “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t matter. My highest-earning movie thus far is ZHZB. I can’t claim It as much in Simmba as I can in Rohit Shetty and Ranveer Singh, which is actually her highest grossing movie. Aside from giving my job my all and attempting to channel Ranveer’s enthusiasm into each song, I can’t make any claims. Yes, I directed it, but ZHZB feels more intimate. Together with Vicky, Laxman Utekar, and I completed this. I don’t want to disparage commercial cinema; this is a family-friendly movie, a film that I can claim as much credit as Vicky can.”
Khan has always lived in a big city, went abroad for school, and hasn’t really lived in a little town to truly pick up their mannerisms. But the characters in her most well-liked performances—Atrangi Re, Kedarnath, and now ZHZB—are all females from small towns. She responds, “I have absolutely not lived in rural India, but I am quite proud and aware of my Indian-ness. I don’t know how she does it. People often assume ‘phirse chhutti pe nikal gayi’ when I travel, but this is not the case. Perhaps because of how different my holidays are from theirs, people don’t like taking vacations with me. It isn’t extravagant or opulent. I will eat at least six meals with the locals if I spend five days in Himachal. I enjoy it. In Kedarnath, there is a rajma chawal stall, spending time there is very important.”
The actor continues, “I am aware of how rural heartland functions, even though I personally may not have lived their existence. Being Indian is a feeling, and I am fundamentally a desi girl. If these roles have resonance, it may be because they are authentic.”
-by Kashvi Gala