Soha Ali Khan breaks down her role as Daasi Maa in ‘Chhorii 2’

This is the first time I am doing horror. Vishal (Furia) told me that Daasi Maa is like the high priestess of a cult. Imagine a cult that exists and does heinous things to young girls. She has her own value system, which comes from her past, along with certain supernatural powers. It’s a slightly complex character, but I think it’s also symbolic of the fact that people do commit certain social evils in India and across the world. Somehow they have been doing that through generations and traditions without really questioning them—thinking that maybe, if we do this, our family or crops will prosper. What I find difficult to imagine is that a lot of these evils are carried out by women. It’s definitely out of my comfort zone—from the way she speaks to the clothes she wears, her body language, and the way she thinks.

My mother said the same thing. She said, “You’re still looking very beautiful,” and I was like, “Maybe, I don’t know.” I think that there is beauty in horror. Something makes you want to look at it. I think perhaps that is what is happening here. We didn’t want the horror to be grotesque but captivating and hypnotising in certain ways. Sometimes you are able to bring someone into your world, allure them—and especially with a young child, you work your evil in different ways. Sometimes your intent is also not evil, but the actions might be very bad. The dialect was definitely not second nature to me. Most of the roles that I have done are very much urban. Nowadays, nobody speaks a pure form of anything. My dialect here is slightly made up and not really rooted in any particular region, but it has a definite rural twang to it. For that, we worked with my dialect–diction coach. I asked for my dialogues in advance because those were things I wanted to learn, memorise, and be comfortable with. And at one point, they gave me a five-page monologue! There’s always a day you dread on set, and this was mine—when I had to do a five-page monologue in a dialect that I’m not very comfortable in.

I typically don’t like to see anything too close to home on screen because I find it disturbing. If I feel a personal connection, then some part of my brain switches off and goes into self-protection mode—especially when it concerns children in trouble or causing trouble. Children are innocent; if they are causing trouble, then we as a society or as parents have to take responsibility. That was not a reason why I chose to do the film, but I do feel that somewhere along the way, the message—the fact that it also deals with real social evils perpetrated against women from birth to death—is a message that needs to be told.

I would love to. I want to work with good directors. I know that I would be hampered by not being fluent in good Bengali, but I would make an effort to learn.

She has not seen Chhorii 2, but we saw Puratawn and absolutely loved it. My response was hugely emotional. She’s playing herself—as a woman in her 80s. It’s the story of a woman battling dementia. To watch a parent go through that is difficult, and Ritu Di portrays the character beautifully. Just the visual of my mother being on screen, bereft of makeup or jewellery—she looks beautiful. The camera has gone in depth, capturing every wrinkle, and she’s glowing. And to have a theatrical release at 80, when she’s been working since the age of 13, is a great testament to her passion for work—and to people still wanting to work with her.