Leena Jumani, who has just finished shooting for her Vikram Bhatt-produced lesbian web series, Maaya 2, with Priyal Gor, tries to underplay the same s*x love scenes.
“For me, Maaya 2 is not just about the physical aspects of love, but it is a feeling of heart to heart connection, which does not always see gender. Agreed there are certain scenes, but they flow naturally with the narrative,” says Leena.
“Also, one more thing I like about our love story is that both the main characters are strong women in their own right. For, some lesbian relationships are shown where one woman virtually dominates the other,” adds the actress.
Were you comfortable doing those intimate scenes? “To be honest, I was a bit hesitant at first, but luckily, I knew Priyal since 2012; we had done a Pakistani version of Khatron Ke Khiladi, called Madventures Pakistan, so things were ok,” says Leena, who also was part of Sajid Khan’s Himmatwala.
Her other known TV projects include Bandini, Ganga Kii Dheej, Chhoti Si Zindagi and Kumkum Bhagya.
Ask whether the promotion will focus more on the physical aspects of the relationship or the soul-connect that she mentions, and Leena says, “Honestly, I don’t know.”
She also does not want to compare her season with Maaya 1, which had featured a very hot Shama Sikandar. “It was on BDSM desires, and here, we talk of women who have to come to accept that they love women and not men. You don’t need to be with a man just to get laid, love goes beyond the physical. ”
What has been the public reaction? “Mixed; many don’t like me playing a lesbian, calling them bad women. Interestingly, since I am essaying a vamp in Kumkum Bhagya for the past four years, some say, this was only expected of you.”
“It is sad that our viewers don’t want to go beyond the pale. To those wondering why I am doing such kind of roles, my answer is simple– please don’t take away my freedom as an artist, to choose what I want to do.”
“On a more somber note, I wish to say that there is lot of homophobia in society. Gays are supposed to be going against the order of nature. I offer my full support to the LGBT community via this role. As for those who say that such women lose out on motherhood, you can always go in for artificial insemination or adoption,” exclaims Leena.
Coming to the web format, she says, “It is slowly on the rise, speaking to male audiences, who were getting less attention due to female-dominated daily soaps. Web stories are also start-to-finish projects, unlike long-running TV sagas.”
Here, she declines to believe that s*x is mainstay of the web. “Repeating what I said earlier, it all depends on your perception– you can see Maaya 2 as a love story of two individuals, or as two women just making out; your call.”
Maaya 2, directed by Krishna Bhatt will stream on VB on the Web on 30 May.
Best of luck for Maaya 2, Leena!!