Actor Richa Chadha who won two awards for her role in Love Sonia has revealed that she had to consult psychologists to overcome the emotional trauma after playing the role of a prostitute. Richa said, “The story of the film was gruelling and emotionally exhausting. For us as actors to go through this process, enacting and living the life of these girls scars us momentarily, I can only imagine what these girls in real life must be going through."
The actor who won two awards for her acting at the London Indian Film Festival and the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, further added, "For me it wasn’t an easy process. To immerse into the role, live through those emotions, learn those realities and accept them to essay the role of Madhuri took its toll on me. We are lucky as educated people to have access to information and to facilities and I had to seek help of professionals who are psychologists and find therapeutic ways to get myself out of the character to resume my normal life. This character was more than just a role it was a life we had to lead and also pull out of it emotionally once we were through it."
Richa was hesitant to the do the role when it was offered because she was worried if the story would do justice to the portrayal of something so sensitive. She believed the director, Tabrez Noorani when he showed her the decade of research he had done for the film. When the actress started shooting she met many sexworkers and a lot of young girls who were rescued from the flesh trade. After tow-and-a-half months of shooting in different locations, depicting brutality and real stories on screen, Richa headed for therapy sessions with a psychologist to help her detach from the role.
Richa is among those actors in the industry who are capable of such a feat where her work is speaking for her. The Fukrey actress played the role of Madhuri, a sex worker and the Madam of a brothel in Love Sonia. She, along with actors like Manoj Bajpayee, Anupam Kher, Freida Pinto, Mrunal Thakur and Rajkumar Rao brought the reality of the sex trafficking world to the screen under the direction of Tabrez Noorani.