Sharmila Tagore said yes to ‘Gulmohar’ within 3-4 days of reading script

Mumbai: Director Rahul Chittella, who is gearing up for his upcoming directorial ‘Gulmohar’, starring senior actress Sharmila Tagore and Manoj Bajpayee, has shared that the actress got back to him in 3-4 days after reading the script.

‘Gulmohar’, which is a drama, also marks Sharmila’s debut in the space of OTT as the film will directly drop on a streaming platform.

Talking about his experience of working with Sharmila, he said, “Sharmila ji literally called me within 3-4 days of reading the script and committed herself to the project. Sharmila ji and I had long reading sessions for each scene of hers. We’d tweak words in the dialogues to what sounds good when she speaks. This kind of diligence and respect for the script comes with complete surrendering to one’s work and not taking it for granted.”

Thoroughly impressed by the legendary actress’s dedication, the director added, “I was dubbing with her a few months ago and she told me she still has her script with all her notes written in Bengali!”

Describing Manoj Bajpayee, the other national award winner in the team, Rahul said: “Manoj ji and I read the script together and he committed to the film by the end of that reading. I know of other actors who can keep directors and producers hanging around for months without committing”.

He further mentioned, “In fact, when I asked Manoj and Simran (actress) that they had to play parents to three grown-ups and that it’s an ensemble piece, they looked at me with honest confusion and asked, ‘yes, so?’. That’s rare! You need to be so secure as an actor that you agree and allow yourself to blend in the crowd.”

The film, which also stars Amol Palekar, Simran, Suraj Sharma, Kaveri Seth, and Utsavi Jha, is set to release on March 3, 2023 on Disney+ Hotstar.