Me, myself and I

Prachi Desai says her role in ‘Azhar’ was most challenging

MUMBAI: Actor Prachi Desai shared playing Mohammad Azharuddin’s first wife Naureen in the upcoming biopic of the former Indian cricketer was more difficult that portraying his second wife Sangeeta Bijlani, a character being essayed by Nargis Fakhri.

“Anybody can play Sangeeta Bijlani’s role but nobody can play Naureen’s role other than me. Naureen’s role was much difficult. I don’t think anybody could have done this role and you will realise this,” she said. “We have a lot of actors who play glamorous characters but I don’t think there are many who can bring out depth, maturity or variation in their role. I think that I do bring that on screen to some extent,” Desai added.

And, while she finds her role in Azhar extremely challenging, she shared it is the best character in the film. “I think I hit the jackpot as I got the best role in the film. It was a huge challenge for me to play this role because I have never seen her nor read much about her.”

Although Prachi kept a low profile all of last year, she says she was busy shooting for her films Azhar and the sequel to Rock On!! during that period. “I was shooting for these films. But time is the most essential thing for an actor. You have to be seen, and be out there,” she says, adding that she was also sick of playing the same old characters despite being one of the newer talents in the industry.

A biopic of Azharuddin, Azhar will feature actor Emraan Hashmi in the title role. The film, directed by Tony D’Souza, also features Lara Dutta and is slated to release on May 13. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2016.

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