I was slotted as an item girl: Urmila Matondkar
While Bollywood has seen several iconic director-actor partnerships, few have been as impactful as Ram Gopal Varma and Urmila Matondkar, who, together, delivered some of the most groundbreaking films in the industry such as ‘Rangeela’ (1995), ‘Satya’ (1998), ‘Kaun?’ (1999) and ‘Bhoot’ (2003). However, over time, speculations arose about a possible fallout between the filmmaker and the thespian, which many believed was the reason they never collaborated again. Now, Urmila has finally addressed these rumours while also opening up about the possibility of working with RGV in the future.
Rubbishing claims of a rift between them, Urmila clarified that they never truly ‘stopped working’ together. She pointed out that she had special appearances in RGV’s films such as ‘Company’ (2002) and ‘Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag’ (2007). Speaking to a leading media house, the actress also criticised the 1990s media for being obsessed with everything about her except for her acting abilities.
Reflecting on working in ‘Satya’, widely regarded as one of Bollywood’s most defining works, Urmila revealed that while ‘Rangeela’ catapulted her to stardom, ‘Satya’ made her unlearn that. “When you have spent many years trying to become somebody and have to shed that status overnight to become a nobody, that was me in ‘Satya’,” she added recalling her character Vidya, an aspiring singer.
She also spoke about being slotted as ‘an item girl or a sex siren’ despite doing films such as ‘Pinjar’, ‘Kaun?’, ‘Bhoot’ and ‘Ek Hasina Thi’ and others. She added that she is happy that the audiences in India have a deeper understanding of women. She pointed out how the media was interested in everything about her life but not her acting capability. She pointed out how nepotism was a reality then as well.
Praising Ram Gopal Varma, Urmila described him as one of India’s finest filmmakers and acknowledged his role in introducing many fresh talents to the industry, including actors, cinematographers, writers, music directors and other technicians. Calling RGV an institution in cinema, the actress shared that if the right opportunity comes along, she’d love to collaborate with Manoj Bajpayee and Ram Gopal Varma again.
