'She's a hungry actor': 'Hunkkaar' director lauds Aneet Padda
What's the story
Karan Kapadia, who directed Hunkkaar: The Roar, recently opened up about his experience working with actor Aneet Padda. He first collaborated with her on a short film and later on Big Girls Don't Cry. These early projects gave him a glimpse of her potential, which later shone through in Hunkkaar. In the series, Padda plays Meenu Rawat, a 17-year-old who accuses an influential godman of sexual assault.
Director's vision
Kapadia wanted to ensure Meenu's voice was heard
Kapadia emphasized the importance of Meenu's perspective in Hunkkaar.
He told Variety India, "Honestly, I had everything in the show that I wanted to talk about, but the perspective of the victim. We never really had the perspective of this person."
"When I set out to do it, the most important thing was that we needed to hear her voice."
Key scene
The impactful courtroom monologue
Padda's character has limited dialogues, making her extended courtroom monologue even more impactful.
Kapadia revealed that this scene was a result of a workshop with Padda, where she performed material that eventually became part of the sequence.
The director dedicated an entire day to filming it and is particularly proud of the result, calling it "the best work I'd ever done."
"I knew how critical, how important it was for us to achieve the emotion that we wanted to."
Early recognition
Kapadia's early impressions of Padda
Kapadia's faith in Padda goes back to her early work.
He recalled, "She stood out for us immediately when she did that short film with Nitya [Mehra]."
"I remember Nitya telling me about her, and then we did Big Girls with her. Very confident actor. Very enthusiastic and hungry."
The director was particularly impressed by Padda's ability to balance contrasting qualities, which he found essential for Meenu's character.
Unexpected fame
'Saiyaara's success didn't change my view of her'
Kapadia admitted he was surprised by the scale of Padda's success with Saiyaara.
He said, "It surprised the entire world, including her and all of us, to be honest."
However, this sudden fame did not change his perception of her or her performance in Hunkkaar.
"She's still the same person in that respect, and once you remove all the noise and all the glitter and all of that, there's this human being behind that, and that relationship never changed."