Dont Open the Door

Written by Anushree Majumdar | Published: August 21, 2018 11:46:10 pm Stree song Nazar Na Lag Jaye

Its been nearly eight hours since the interviews began, and a revolving door of journalists have taken over Shraddha Kapoors day. This is par for course — pre-release promotional activity for a film will see actors and filmmakers holed up in rooms, talking up and about their project endlessly, answering the same questions till they go blue in the face. Kapoors face is not blue; her make-up is still on point and she assures us that shes not tired. If shes acting, its hard to tell.

“Lets chat, itll be a change from being interviewed all day,” she says. Kapoors upcoming release, Stree, is her first film in 2018; last year, she had Ok Jaanu, Half Girlfriend and Haseena Parkar. “Im thankful to Amar Kaushik, the director, and Maddock Films, for thinking of me for Stree. Im thankful nobody had a preconceived notion about me, that I only like to do romantic films. When the film was narrated to me, within 15 minutes, I was jumping to say yes.

But Ive been told to curb my eagerness. Its an ajeeb (strange) film, and thats good,” says Kapoor, 31. She has two more releases in 2018: Shree Narayan Singhs Batti Gul Meter Chalu, and a yet-to-be named Saina Nehwal biopic.
Releasing on August 31, Stree is a “horror-comedy”, about the urban legend of Nale Ba, a woman who knocks on the doors of houses at night — if you answer, youll never be seen again. “One of the reasons I was eager to do this film is because of its humour. But am I playing the witch? I cant tell you,” says Kapoor. We try and persuade her to tell us more by pointing out that the fishtail braid shes been twirling throughout this conversation is similar to the one in Nazar, Star TVs latest supernatural show, about a daayan whose hair is long enough to deliver newspapers to the skyscrapers in Andheri, but chooses to kill with it instead.

“What a co! My role is different because I play a small-town girl. But she is a little off, you know. As for Stree, shes not dressed in white, she wears a red sari, and she levitates,” says Kapoor. Her co-star, Rajkummar Rao, has admitted hes afraid of bats, which he encountered during the shoot; did anything scare her? “Not during the shoot, but Im afraid of flying. Turbulence freaks me out,” she says.

So, what does Shraddha Kapoor see in her 15-second movie montage when she feels the end is near? Is there a rain song sequence? “Haha, no. I think of my family, that I should have spent more time with them. In the last few seconds, I think that I should have said something kind to the people in my life. I also think that I should have taken more risks,” she says. Kapoor is currently shooting for her Telugu film debut, Saaho, with Prabhas, due for release next year. Hopefully, itll be a risk thatll pay off.