Acclaimed
filmmaker
Srijit
Mukherji
revealed
on
Tuesday
how
Vidya
Balan,
who
has
been
known
for
her
jovial
and
down-to-earth
personality,
completely
transformed
herself
to
no-nonsense
brothel
madam
"Begum
Jaan".
"Before
we
started
shooting
'Begum
Jaan'
we
organised
two
workshops
simultaneously.
One
with
Vidya,
another
with
girls...
because
Vidya
is
a
jovial
down-to-earth
person
and
she
easily
mingles
with
everybody
on
set
and
I
didn't
want
that.
I
wanted
certain
kind
of
distance
with
the
girls
from
Vidya," he
said
at
the
trailer
launch
of
the
film.
Vidya
Used
To
Ask
Many
Questions
"Vidya
used
to
ask
many
questions
during
the
workshop
like
what
the
memories
of
'Begum
Jaan'
were
when
she
was
three,
when
she
was
first
exploited
or
what
happened
when
she
got
married.
Srijit
Further
Added..
"So
at
the
end
of
the
workshop,
I
had
already
completed
writing
four
scripts...
one
'Begum
Jaan'
and
others
are
the
prequels
and
sequels.
I
had
to
keep
ready
all
the
backstories
of
'Begum
Jaan'
and
the
girls."
'There
Was
No
Trace
Of
Vidya
Balan'
"After
the
workshop
when
Vidya
entered
the
set,
I
saw
'Begum
Jaan' who
is
a
fierce,
manipulative
no-nonsense
kind
of
woman,
walking
in.
There
was
no
trace
of
Vidya
Balan,"
he
told
the
media.
We
Agree
With
You,
Mr
Mukherji
The
National
award-winning
filmmaker
said
the
'Kahani'
actress
has
an
immense
commitment
towards
her
craft.
Srijit
Mukherjee's
directorial
is
a
Hindi
adaptation
of
Bengali
film
‘Rajkahini',
which
saw
Rituparna
Sengupta
in
the
lead,
and
also
marks
his
debut
in
Bollywood.
Vidya
is
portraying
the
character
of
a
brothel
madam,
while
Ila
Arun,
Gauahar
Khan,
Pallavi
Sharda,
Ridheema
Tiwary,
Ashish
Vidyarthi,
Chunky
Pandey
and
Rajit
Kapoor
are
portraying
the
pivotal
roles
in
the
film.
The
hard-hitting
plot
deals
with
the
trauma
of
displaced
women
in
a
brothel
during
India's
partition.
While
"Rajkahini" was
based
in
Bengal,
"Begum
Jaan"
is
based
out
of
Punjab.
Produced
by
Mukesh
Bhatt,
the
film
is
scheduled
for
release
on
April
14.