Maternal Instinct

“It will be my first film after a year-and-a-half and I am eager to show off the hard work that went into the film,” she says,about the film that releases on December 4. “Now,I can proudly tell everyone that Amitabh Bachchan was my son. He was well-behaved and addressed me as Ma on the sets.”

In the film,Balan plays a gynaecologist and mother to Bachchan senior. Bachchan’s character Auro suffers from Progeria,a rare genetic condition in which symptoms resembling aspects of ageing are manifested at an early age in a person. “Auro was like this cocky 13-year-old whose mannerisms were different from other children’s. I watched documentaries on progeria and read a book,Old at Age 3 by Keith Moore,about a person suffering from the disease,” she explains.

She adds that director R Balakrishnan made it clear that “he did not want a mother who patronises her child or pities him”. “He asked me to show pride in my son. I had to show affection without physical gestures like hugs and kisses,” she adds.

Ironically,Balan is not comfortable with children in real life. “I often joke with my sister that my baby and I will be crying together. I am weary of holding children,” she says. When she was offered the role of Amitabh’s mother,she was apprehensive of being typecast as a mother so early in her career. “I signed up only after my family told me they believed in the role,” she says.

Balan will next be seen in the Vishal Bhardwaj-produced Ishqiya,where she plays a bandit on the run from the law. “I enjoyed playing the bad girl. I don’t know if this experiment will work,but I know it could not get any better for me,” she signs off. From doting mother to bad girl. We like.