Between Action And Cut
Verve|February 2018

She’s a conventional beauty, one who has been quite unconventional in her real-life choices and her reel roles. An actor who doesn’t shy away from challenging herself, Aditi Rao Hydari — who’s already worked with industry stalwarts like Mani Ratnam, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Sanjay Leela Bhansali — is a self-confessed dreamer who loves chasing her aspirations in the “magical” world of cinema. On the eve of the release of the much-awaited Padmaavat, the petite performer gets up close and personal with Huzan Tata

Huzan Tata
Between Action And Cut
She walks into the suburban studio 15 minutes before the appointed call time — and our Verve team, being used to stars arriving fashionably late, is pleasantly surprised to see her saunter in, dressed casually in jeans and a black tee. Greeting the photographer and stylist and after giving her outfits for the shoot a dekko, Aditi Rao Hydari heads to the make-up room to get ready to preen and pose for the Verve cover – a third time for her.

The last few days have been hectic; she has constantly been travelling, she tells me, and is severely under-rested. “but the moment the camera comes on, I forget everything. The time between ‘action’ and ‘cut’ is a magical space,” she says. and you can see this the minute she steps into the frame — posing for the camera is like second nature to her.

As we sit down for a chat after the shoot is over, Aditi relaxes, her tiredness at the end of the day is eminently visible, but the minute we start talking shop, her eyes light up and all fatigue is forgotten. Padmaavat — where she plays wife to ranveer Singh’s allauddin Khilji — is up for release the week after our shoot, delayed by controversies plaguing it since its making. I wonder what’s going on in her mind now. “I find it so amazing that for directors like Sanjay Leela bhansali — despite the kind of violence they face – passion surpasses everything else. Nothing can keep them away from what they want to do; I find that inspiring. It’s unfortunate that they are treated like this and I wish it didn’t happen. I’m happy that Padmaavat is finally releasing, it’s a film that people have been dying to watch. For film-makers, the intention behind telling the story is so important, and with people like Sanjay sir, you can’t and mustn’t doubt their intentions.”

This story is from the February 2018 edition of Verve.

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This story is from the February 2018 edition of Verve.

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