Lara Dutta on Playing Indira Gandhi in BellBottom: 'It Was Important to Get Her Body Language Right'

Lara Dutta has pulled off one of the most challenging– and bravest — transformations of her nearly two-decade-old film career in BellBottom, in which she plays former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The film, also starring Akshay Kumar, Vaani Kapoor and Huma Qureshi, is based on a true story that follows an undercover RAW agent (played by Akshay) who is assigned the mission of rescuing 210 hostages from a hijacked Indian plane.

While Akshay, without a doubt, dominated the screen throughout the length of the trailer that was launched on Tuesday, it was Lara’s dramatic transformation as the former PM that caught the maximum attention, with fans showering largely positive comments on the actress. One user wrote on Twitter, “After watching #BellBottom trailer more than 5 times I am still not able to recognise is she really @LaraDutta… but hats off to makeup artist, and of course, phenomenal #LaraDutta you truly deserve all the appreciation.” (sic) Another one tweeted, “Just wow! Give the make-up artist of #BellBottom a National award already. I bet you can’t guess this Bollywood actress portraying the role of Indira Gandhi. Loved the #BellBottomTrailer… Can’t wait for the movie to release, especially the performance by #LaraDutta.”

At the trailer launch of BellBottom, the actress opened up about what went into the preparation of her character and if she was nervous about taking on the responsibility of portraying Indira Gandhi on screen. “All it took was a call, saying, ‘Lara, this film is being made and we are casting for Indira Gandhi’s role and that’s all it really took before I even heard the script,” said Lara, who was joined by Akshay, Vaani and producer Jackky Bhagnani at the trailer launch event that took place at a theatre in New Delhi.

“But yes, of course, it’s a great responsibility when you are portraying somebody who is an iconic figure like her. I hope all of you will go to theatres to watch the film but it was very important to get her body language right as you know the film deals with the hijack situation that happened during Indira Gandhi’s tenure. So given the dramatic turn of events that were unfolding, she was always somebody who was extremely centered and never really prone to dramatics. So, it was very important to portray her in that form. I had a great time. There was a lot of homework and research that went on behind it but it was an opportunity of a lifetime that I’m very thankful for it,” Lara added.

BellBottom will be the first major Hindi film to have a theatrical release amid the pandemic. The film has been directed by Ranjit M Tewari. The film will be released theatrically in 2D and 3D formats on August 19.

Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here.