Wedding Blues

Soon after Anurag Kashyap’s Gulaal released earlier this year,actor Raj Singh Chaudhary,33,was faced with a strange problem. “People began to look upon me as a timid,spineless man just because the character I’d played in Gulaal was of a weak and submissive student,” he says with a smile. In his forthcoming Mehmaanji,the actor sets the record straight. “I play an IAS aspirant from rural Bihar,who has strong convictions and fights for his rights,” he says. “The character is closer to me in real life.”

Directed by first-timer Sushil Rajpal,who was earlier Director of photography for Laaga Chunari Mein Daag,the film tackles the issues of groom kidnappings and forced weddings in Bihar that were at their peak during the 1980s. The film has been shot in the rural areas of Bihar like Kanti and Muzaffarpur and is expected to release in July. “Groom kidnappings are still rampant in the rural parts of Bihar,” adds Chaudhary,whose character is based on a real civil services aspirant who was abducted,forced to marry but escaped. The person is currently fighting a case in the court. “I met a few such grooms and talking to them helped me understand the class divide that still prevails in rural India,” says the actor.

There are no heavyweights in the credit list,apart from Vinay Pathak. Chaudhary himself was not the first choice for the role and only made it on the recommendation of filmmaker Imtiaz Ali. For Chaudhary,this film fits into the category of realistic cinema,like Gulaal. Does that mean Chaudhary is happy with the image of a highbrow man’s actor? “I might switch to commercial potboilers soon,” he smiles,and adds that he is already preparing for another project with Kashyap.