Rohini Hattangadi

“We were shooting a scene of the Phoenix Ashram in South Africa, but the set was in India. All the donkeys in the vicinity were painted black and white to look like zebras in case one of them strayed into the scene so that it would look like South Africa.”

“We have a group also on WhatsApp with our 'Char Divas Sasuche' team. I never realized that it ran for 13 years but the credit goes to the production house, the crew, and cast. People get bored easily with normal saas-bahu serials but it didn't happen to us.”

“As actors we keep on hoping to get that one good role, but at times we have to go through a lot of trash to get there.”

“I used to donate only 10 days of a month even being a lead actor to 'Char Divas Sasuche' so we had time to do other projects also.”

“I started my acting career in 1974 through theatre and I was also a student of the National School of Drama.”

“I have played queens on screen in the past.”

“I don't know what forces Hindi satellite channels to indulge in so much negativity.”

“I was playing Sultan Razia and had a habit of twitching my wrist when I took a movement.”

“In Hindi films, it's easy to get typecast.”

“The director could start shooting the fifth scene first. So while giving take for the scene I need to know what I am expected to do in the first four scenes. Sometimes it gets quite confusing and on television you never know when the channel will change the story or dump the character!”

“'Karmyudh' is the story of a young, dynamic politician named Yashwant Chauhan and his police officer wife Shivangi. They love each other but have different ideologies. I play the role of Yashwant's mother who supports her children in times of need and stands by truth.”

“The way the Indian cinema is going, I think more and more films on new topics will be encouraged by the audience.”

“Our filmmakers need to be true to their culture to gain appreciation at international level. Though I don't wish to generalize but do I feel that Indianness is lacking in most Indian films these days.”

“When I was applying for a central government scholarship to study an art form, I saw that there was space to write the names of the institution and the guru we wanted to study with. For singing, dancing and folk songs, you could name a guru.”

“Since I had gone to a Marathi-language school, I had to take elocution classes as preparation for my part as Kasturba.”

“The script was focused on how Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi turned into the Mahatma. There was no room for many others who mattered in the making of India. There was no space for Subhas Chandra Bose or Rajaji that an Indian director might have been pressured to include. This process of elimination was necessary.”

“When I came into the movies, I was 27 years. I had the choice of playing the mother or sister. I chose mother.”

“After 'Gandhi', Bollywood offered me mothers' roles. I played mother to heroes older to me like Amitabh Bachchan and Mithun Chakrbaborty.”

“I did 'Gandhi' but post that how many roles could be generated in a Hollywood film for an Indian face? Similarly how many roles can be generated to accommodate Hollywood actors in Indian films?”

“Theatre is my first love, simply because I started out with theatre.”