Mama Malini breaks down

By: Upala KBR, Mid-Day

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Hema Malini is an extremely proud mother. Last week, when she watched daughter Esha's performance in Ankahee at a private trial in Filmcity, she was so touched, "she wept at certain portions of the film," say people from the Ankahee unit.

Ankahee, produced by Pritish Nandy Communications, is directed by Vikram Bhatt and also stars Aftab Shivdasani and Ameesha Patel. The film is reportedly inspired from Vikram Bhatt's life, especially his romantic interlude with Sushmita Sen.

"I saw the film, and Esha has given a very good performance," says Malini. "It's very different from her usual ones. The film is very intense and nice.

All the performances, including Aftab's and Ameesha's, are very good. Among all of Esha's films, Ankahee is her best performance till date. I liked her a lot in Main Aisa Hi Hoon, too. Her role was small, but she performed very well, and looked great."

I'm very satisfied

Was Ankahee an emotional experience? "Yes, I was visibly touched after watching the film. Vikram Bhatt has done a very good job and brought out the best in Esha. Esha is playing a very complex character. It's very tough to play, but Esha did it wonderfully.

She displayed a lot of maturity while enacting the role. Of course, as a mother, I will keep pushing her to do better, but I am very satisfied with her performance in Ankahee."

Which is Hema's favourite scene from the film? "Esha's introductory scene. It was a very difficult scene to perform." The scene has Kavya Krishna (Esha) meeting Dr Shekhar Saxena (Aftab) for the first time in hospital, after she slits her wrists.

Concerned mum

"I never knew that Esha fell sick while shooting. It was just two days ago that I came to know about it. Esha never told me, but I came to know about her vomiting spells on the sets from a cousin of hers, whom she had confided in.

Esha has matched my expectations in this film. I always knew she was a good actress, but no one had used her acting talents properly. I hope she gets lovely roles to perform, films where she will be the solo heroine."