Filmmaker Gauri Shinde Reveals Producers Wanted Sridevi To Do An Item Song In ‘English Vinglish’. *Sigh* The Priorities!
Ten years ago was no time for a female-centric and empowering to be made in the Hindi film industry. People wanted masala, action, thrill and romance where the actor took centre stage and the actress was just on board as arm candy. And in times like these, when English Vinglish was released, it was pathbreaking, it broke glass ceilings, it broke stereotypes and just about everything else in between. Might I add, it is one of the best performances by Sridevi and my most-liked film so far. Well, English Vinglish completed its 10 years on October 5, and its director Gauri Shinde has revealed how difficult it was for her to make this film back then and the producers’ problems with it.
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As per reports, Gauri Shinde said that the producers wanted Sridevi to do an ‘item song’ in the film! Can you even imagine that? But the filmmaker put her foot down about not doing anything of this sort but was rather willing to shelve the film instead of going ahead with the producers’ plans. Furthermore, Gauri said that the producers also wanted a ‘superstar’ to play Sridevi’s husband’s role in the film. The role was played by Adil Hussain.
But then, Gauri Shinde’s husband, R Balki, decided that they should rather produce the film themselves, and that is how their production house was born. And we’re glad that Gauri did not give in to the weird demands made by the producers. English Vinglish is considered one of the classic films today, and we cannot even imagine the late Sridevi doing an item song in a film that is based on an empowering storyline!
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Despite the times being different even today, actresses are not given concrete roles. There are songs where the actresses’ bodies are sexualised and the camera emphasises the bust area, the waistline, the belly button, etc. It is high time that producers do not make such weird demands from actresses in films.
