Richa Chadha, who is garnering praise for her work in auteur Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s OTT debut ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’, shared that she was offered a different role in the show, but she chose the character of Lajjo. The actor shared that despite being offered a role with more screen time, she decided to portray Lajjo owing to her heartbreaking arc in the show.
Richa felt that the resemblance of her character in the show to Meena Kumari from ‘Pakeezah’ and a female version of Devdas would definitely leave an impact.
Reflecting on her decision, Richa said, “When I was approached for ‘Heeramandi’, at the time Sanjay was the showrunner and I had been offered another part, the one with more screen time for sure. But because an actor also needs to see what’s in here that’s new for me, I chose Lajjo.”
“I have experimented with characters that have a grey shade, like Bholi Punjaban or Tara in ‘Madam Chief Minister’. Basically, I get accused of playing only empowered characters, so I felt the need to break that stereotype and surprise the audience. I wanted to play the part of a hopeless romantic and leave the audience with gooseflesh. That’s exactly what's happening. People are calling me in tears,” she continued.
Richa also revealed that when Sanjay Leela Bhansali asked her to check the character of Lajjo, she was immediately drawn to the role.
Furthermore, the Kathak dance sequence performed by Lajjo holds special significance for Richa, a trained Kathak dancer herself.
“I’ve always harboured a desire to incorporate Kathak dance into my on-screen roles and ‘Heeramandi’ provided the perfect opportunity to do so. As a trained Kathak dancer, bringing Lajjo’s dance number to life was a fulfilling experience for me, adding another layer of authenticity to the character,” she added.