Talented and good looking actor Amrapali Gupta accepts that she has become typecast in the negative space. She has a similar avatar in new Colors show, Bahu Begum (LSD Films).
“I would love to essay positive characters but they don’t seem to come my way. The only reason I was selected for Tujhse Hai Raabta was that I looked a lot like the main lead, Reem Shaikh. I also don’t appear like a normal mother.”
“Generally speaking, whenever they need a performance-oriented vamp, they gave me a buzz and I have made my peace with this scenario,” says Amrapali, who was first noticed with hit shows like Pyaar Ke Do Naam: Ek Raadha, Ek Shyaam and Teen Bahuraniyan, years back. “The only saving grace is that my above latest character (Suraiya Begum) puts up an act to hide her nefarious intentions, so this allows me a different kind of acting, which I worked out in conjunction with my director and creative (Richa).”
“I had worked with the latter before, so she knew my caliber. Hence, she directly called me for a mock shoot and locked me.”
“It is good fun working with seniors like Simone Singh. You get to learn a lot from her. Both the lead gals (Diana Khan and Samiksha Jaiswal) are also quite talented and cool people to hang out with on set.”
Bahu Begum is not Amprapali’s first Muslim social. “Prior to this, I had done Qabool Hai, where my character Tanveer was hated by one and all. I have been told that I look like a Muslim, which maybe because I also hail from the Nawabi city of Lucknow. It helps me to get into the skin of the Muslim character better.”
Although Bahu Begum is an Islamic story, the narrative is crafted in such a way that it will appeal to people of all religions. No wonder I have fans writing in from Europe as well.”
“Our language is also very everyday Hindi and does not use ornamental Urdu like Pakistani dramas.”
When asked about the concept of two wives, she says, “You need to understand that Islam only allows polygamy in special circumstances, and that too only if the first wife acquiesces. It is not meant for the husband to enjoy more women.”
“Having said that, I am glad that sexual equality is coming to the fore and social evils like Triple Talaaq have been curbed by the Modi Government. Today women, not only in big towns but even in smaller cities, are giving as good as they get. If their men are having affairs, they too are playing the field. Have we not seen many cases of lesbians and women marrying younger men?”
