She won a
National award for her turn as a feisty schoolgirl in Makdee more than 15 years
ago and after a hiatus from fame, Shweta Basu Prasad is well and truly back in
the limelight.
She grabbed
eyeballs as Urmila, the coy but strong sister-in-law of Varun Dhawan in
Badrinath Ki Dulhania. Shweta is also seen on our small screens as the female
lead of the historical drama Chandranandini.
SpotboyE.com
caught up with the actress and in a candid chat, she spoke about nepotism, her
comeback in Badrinath Ki Dulhania and that much-talked-about climax scene
involving a weighing scale.
Badrinath Ki
Dulhania entered the 100 crore club. You must be elated...
I feel great
because it was my comeback. The character, the story, the team, and the music
was special and it’s been such a great journey.
Image Source: Instagram/Shweta Basu Prasad
How was the
experience of having Varun Dhawan as your Devar in the film?
Oh, it was really
nice. Varun, in fact, was instrumental in my casting in the project. He’s been
a fantastic co-star. I remembered my first meeting with him when he recognized me as the
Makdee girl and he said ‘OMG I have seen your film Makdee and loved it.’
Image Source: Instagram/Shweta Basu Prasad
The climax scene
in Badrinath Ki Dulhania, where you are weighed on a scale, got everyone
talking...
Badrinath
thankfully wasn’t a pseudo women empowerment film! It was more about gender
equality and highlighting it in the society. It speaks about individuality,
that you need to start as an individual first and forget the gender. The
climax where I was weighed on the ‘tarazu’ affected a lot of people. I’m not
sure how many people still practice that or not. But it sent out a very strong
and powerful message in the film.
Image Source: Instagram/Shweta Basu Prasad
Both your
co-stars in Badrinath Ki Dulhania, Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan are star kids.
Being an outsider, do you think nepotism exists in the Industry?
I don’t think so!
I think people who comment about nepotism are largely jealous of people doing
well. I’m an outsider who has grown up in the industry and I have a lot of
friends who have a famous actress mother or a famous father, but they have not
made it big in Bollywood. To give a small example; if a builder wants his son
to join the family business you wouldn’t call that nepotism! It’s not like Alia
Bhatt doesn’t work hard, she’s a really hardworking and talented girl who has
proved herself but so has Kangana Ranaut! The only advantage star kids have is
that they get the first and second chance easily. Third time you have to earn
it.
Thumbnail Image Source: hdpics,yadtek,Instagram/Shweta Basu Prasad