Happy Birthday Sonam Kapoor: When Mrs Ahuja Said, "If You Look A Certain Way Or Wear Nice Clothes, People Underestimate You"

On Sonam Kapoor's Birthday, let's take a look at some unknown facts about the actress and get a sneak at some golden words uttered by the Neerja star. Read on.

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Happy Birthday Sonam Kapoor: When Mrs Ahuja Said, "If You Look A Certain Way Or Wear Nice Clothes, People Underestimate You"
1.     Sonam Kapoor  was an assistant  to Sanjay Leela Bhansali on   the sets  of  Black. So  was Ranbir Kapoor. Initially she was  not cast with Ranbir in Saawariya  .  Deepika  Padukone  was  the  first choice.  But  then the temptation to  cast Rishi Kapoor’s son and Anil Kapoor’s daughter  hit Bhansali.Sonam got the  role. But  only after losing  40 kilos. The film flopped.  Sonam has  said, “It  was  a journey I  had to go through. If I had become  a successful actress after Saawariya I’d have got a swollen head.I worked hard to establish myself. When roots run deep  you can’t cut down  a tree easily.

2.     Sonam was nearly sacked from Saawariya for  not getting  it right. This  happened in  Karjat on the outskirts  of Mumbai when the film was midway into its  shooting.A huge showdown occurred  and Bhansali said he’s shelving  the  film. The director’s sister and  the heroine’s father  had to intervene.  Finally  it was  all worth  it. In her first  interview with me  on the eve of  Saawariya   Sonam said, “It's more exciting than scary. My best friend Navneet came down from Kuwait for the premiere. She got married just last week. I said, 'Listen, that was your wedding. This is my wedding.' I don't know when I'm going to get married. But the premiere was the most important day of my life. I thought Sanjay Sir (Bhansali) and Ranbir being who they are would naturally attract attention. But why me? Some of the questions specially about my friendship with Ranbir were too funny to be embarrassing. I guess I've to get used to being asked strange questions. When you become an actor you become a public figure. I've had 14-15 year olds asking me for autograph. So I realize I do have a responsibility towards the public. I've come to this industry with my eyes open, and I can't shy away from being answerable. But honestly I didn't expect this kind of a response. But anyway they all come for Ranbir. Nobody recognizes me without makeup. So when we went to Siddhi-Vinayak and saw a crowd there I told him it was all his fault.”

3.     The turning  point  for Sonam was Ram Madhvani’s  Neerja,  which to this  remains  her best work. Playing the  airborne  martyr who  perished while saving passengers  from a  hostage situation , Sonam  was  the  portrait  of  vulnerability  and  strength. The  question which  everyone  wanted answered was, how  did  Sonam  learn to act? Sonam answered  the  question in an interview with me. “You know, it’s funny. But when you come from certain background, or look a certain way or wear nice clothes people under-estimate you. In Hindi cinema if you don’t wear cotton sarees in every scene you haven’t given a good performance.And if you like to your best you are not a good actor.Actually it’s the way the world works. Luckily me for me there are filmmakers like Rakeysh Mehra and Aanand Rai who can look beyond my looks and  who believe in my talent.There is this belief in the cinema industry the worldover that good-looking  people cannot act.Well, if that was true we’d have never had a Waheeda Rehman. Madhubala wasn’t taken seriously for the longest time because of her incandescent looks.She was amazing at comedy which for  a female actor is  a very difficult genre to do. The fabulous Lucille Balle was never taken seriously because she did comic roles. Or Marilyn Monroe...great actress, great comedian, not taken  seriously because of her good looks.”

4.     Sonam  Kapoor’s best friend  is  her husband Anand   Ahuja.Her  friends  in the industry are  Jacqueline  Fernandez and  Kareena  Kapoor Khan. She is   no longer in touch with  Ranbir Kapoor. But she  calls her first  director Sanjay Leela Bhansali  on his birthday and  whenever he is in  distress.

5.      Sonam who was last seen  in  The Zoya Factor is all set to take  centrestage  with a new  project  . She will star as a blind girl in the Hindi remake  of  the 2011  Korean  film Blind.The  entire plot,about an  ex-cop who goes  blind  in an accident that happens while she hunts down a criminal and  how she chases  him  down in spite her  physical  disability, centres around Sonam’s character. She is  no  stranger to playing central  characters.Sujoy Ghosh who will be the   creative  producer  of this project says, “A  friend  of mine  Shome Makhija is  directing  the film. It’s  an  out-and-out  female-hero story.”Sujoy who has done female-hero stories  with Vidya Balan ,feels Sonam is the right fit  for this role.Sonam who has never  done an  action film before is getting ready to kick some serious butt  in this Korean  remake . Happy  kickass-ing. And keep the Neerjas coming.




Image source: SpotboyE archive
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