You play a woman in a position of power in The Night Manager. In the past, you’ve played roles where your character has been powerless. As an actor, was anything different because of this shift?
No, not really. There are things in the body language that change, but even a person with power is rendered powerless. No character is in a state of stasis. That, “I’m going to play powerful through the whole show” [mood]. People will fall asleep because it’s one note. A human being’s mind goes through so many changes in a day. I don’t think Lipika is aware or gives much importance to her position because she’s always reminded of the fact that she’s a woman and that there’s a boss to reckon with, and that’s in any bureaucratic or office setup. You have a little bit more administrative power than someone else who works for you, but you have less power than the boss that you have to report to. This is the food chain, and Lipika is not propelled by power. … There are times she feels powerful, and there are times where she feels powerless and backed against a wall.
What was your first thought upon reading the script?
“Who is she? Why does she want to do this job?” But primarily it’s always, “Who is she?” I want to know, is this person happy? Ghar pe kaisa hai? (How are they like at home?) You do see her character with her very supportive husband and that allows her to do the kind of job that she’s doing and pull the hours that she is because there is a marriage that’s secure and a partner that’s understanding. By and large, she is quite joyous. I’ve had enough of the Shakespearean tragedies and the great fall. I was just really happy to play a RAW agent and enter this. The reality, the harshness of the pandemic and the situation in my own household was so intense that life had so many dark shades at a certain point. I really was looking for work to be a fantastical escape. It’s nice to play someone who is from a different world. That was I think the first few thoughts and then…Anil Kapoor, for sure.
Was it fun working with the cast?
It was really wonderful. I had scenes with Aditya (Roy Kapur) and the most number of scenes I had with this wonderful actor called Anand (Potdukhe), who plays Sarang. We just had so much fun. Mostly we were in the un-glamorous location(s), right? True to our middle-class upbringing in our real lives, we were the representation of the everyday man. But when my character gets to go and see the Richie-rich, I did get to go to Sri Lanka and Shimla and see how the rich live. … Sandeep [Modi] shot scenes with Anil Kapoor sir, Aditya and Sobhita (Dhulipala) because there was so much to cover. Most of my scenes were shot by Priyanka [Ghose]. She is also very detail-oriented. When I would read the script, I would have ideas. I would write those notes and send them to her and tell her that whatever works incorporate, whatever doesn’t work…In the very next draft that would be emailed to me, she would have already incorporated the changes. I could see that she was so open and she really won my heart, won my trust and I would do anything for her. On set, we were covering a lot of pages. It was possible because (of) Priyanka. We would finish one scene (and) while I was changing into the new costume, we would be talking about the next scene — “What else can we do? What do you think?” I felt such a sense of camaraderie with her.
