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Heeramandi EXCLUSIVE: Jayati Bhatia on Mallikajaan strangling Phatto scene; 'Manisha Koirala was concerned about hurting me'
In an exclusive chat with Pinkvilla, Jayati Bhatia who played the character of Phatto bi in Heeramandi spoke about her experience working with Manisha Koirala, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and more.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Heeramandi has been receiving accolades from both viewers and reviewers. The web series has captured the hearts of many, and the actors are reveling in the overwhelmingly positive feedback.
Among the standout performances, Jayati Bhatia, a seasoned television actress, beautifully portrayed the character of Phatto bi in the project. Having garnered praise for her previous work in TV shows, Bhatia seamlessly blended into SLB's talented cast, undoubtedly making the television industry proud.
In an exclusive chat with Pinkvilla, Jayati recalled filming the spine-chilling scene of Mallikajaan trying to strangle her and shared an exciting anecdote about the same.
Jayati Bhatia on filming an important scene with Manisha Koirala
In one of the scenes, Phatto requests Mallikajaan to give some more time to Iqbal to arrange the money to rescue Saima. Mallikajaan, who was busy shopping for royal clothes, takes a dupatta and tells Phatto that it'd suit her. As she makes her wear the dupatta, she strangles her and rejects the request made by her.
Talking about the same scene, Jayati Bhatia said, "That scene had to depict Mallikajaan's cruelty and Sanjay sir wanted to showcase how effortlessly threatening she can be and wouldn't even spare someone so loyal to her for years."
Take a look at the glimpse of Heeramandi here:
Jayati shared, "Earlier, it was supposed to be a slap scene wherein Mallikajan rejects Phatto's request by slapping her. We took a couple of shots of the scene and Manisha jee was very concerned about hurting me. After every take and rehearsal, she would ask me if she hurt me. I gave her full comfort and told her she could hit me hard to get the shot right, but she was still quite worried about hurting me."
"However, later Sir scrapped that scene and came up with this even more appealing scene which depicted Mallikajaan's edgy personality. After rejecting Phatto's request, she asks her to keep the dupatta too, which also says about how layered she was as a character."
"I was asked to maintain the anger, helplessness, and anguish in my eyes as Mallikajaan exits. It was a challenging scene but quite fulfilling, must say."
Jayati Bhatia's admiration for Manisha Koirala
Jayati heaped praises on Manisha Koirala and stated that she is inspired by her. She said, "Even though we are contemporaries, I look up to Manisha jee and how! I was always in awe of her aura. I was feeling so blessed to work with an actress who's won so many awards, is a known performer, a cancer survivor, and a lot more. She has done some phenomenal work with the who's who of the industry. I loved her in Sanjay Sir's Khamoshiyaa. I used to observe her on the sets and she never ever left her character. She was immersed in the character and wouldn't come out of it."
"I also learned a lot from her. Being an actress of that caliber, she never threw her weight. She never cribbed while doing retakes because of some other co-actor's fault. She would give the same amount of energy and dedication in each of her shots."
"After around six to seven months, we developed a bond and I remember she laughed at my joke. Later, she'd say, 'Jayati jee thoda hassaiye na' (Jayati jee, please make me laugh). She is a fantastic actress and an equally beautiful human being."
Jayati Bhatia on working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali
"Working with Sanjay Sir was quite an enriching experience. Every day, in fact, every moment on the sets has been a learning experience. His vision, thought process and eye for detail make him what he is. He is truly an institution and I'm glad to have been able to grasp the umpteen amount of knowledge by working closely with him on this project. I'm hoping that the universe will lead me to work with him again."
"In the last meeting, I remember him telling me that he regrets not doing a dance sequence with me. I told her that I'd miss being on his set. In one of the scenes, I remember sir asking me to only emote through my eyes and my mind."
"He asked me to go get into the character's mind and express myself through my eyes without moving a bit. It was a close shot and it came out brilliantly. I have stories to share from each scene in the show. It was a brilliant experience and would love to work with sir again," Jayati concluded.
Heeramandi on Netflix stars popular actors like Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Indresh Malik, Fardeen Khan, and Sharmin Segal among others.
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