EXCLUSIVE: Vaani Kapoor on playing a trans woman in Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui- “I took that pressure upon myself that I can’t go wrong”

By Athulya Nambiar -

December 20, 2021 - 4:58 PM IST

Actor Vaani Kapoor is being lauded for her portrayal of a trans woman named Maanvi in the recently released film Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui. Directed by Abhishek Kapoor, the film also stars Ayushmann Khurrana. Talking about getting on board the film, Vaani told Bollywood Hungama, “Gattu (Abhishek Kapoor) sent me the script over an email and I called him. I just got an idea and sense of the film and how he's viewing Maanvi, his viewpoint and how he wants to design it, and how he views his integral characters. I was so on board with his mindset. I genuinely felt as an individual that something like this needs to be addressed.”

EXCLUSIVE: Vaani Kapoor on playing a trans woman in Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui- “I took that pressure upon myself that I can’t go wrong”

Talking about what Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui has tried to do, Vaani said, “It is the first time an Indian film has represented the community like this. Our reference point is usually a man dressed in a woman’s saree and you become the butt of the joke. It is an earnest attempt to give dignity and celebrate them and give them the due respect that they deserve in our society. An attempt to play it in a way where it is also including masses by packaging it in a more entertaining way. It also talks about and sends across the message in a very correct light without making it sound too preachy because you're trying to bridge the gap between the masses and the classes and the regressive and the progressive.”

For Vaani to become Maanvi, she spoke to a lot of people from the trans community to understand them and their emotions and also studied about the community through interviews and documentaries before starting to shoot. “I did feel responsible. I took that pressure upon myself that I can't go wrong. If tomorrow the community itself can’t connect to it, I fail. I will be a huge disappointment for myself. I spoke to a lot of trans girls and I did have lovely conversations with them where they have gone through similar or perhaps even harder, tougher times in their lives than a Maanvi has in the film. I watched documentaries, interviews, TV shows, movies from the 1990s to the 2000s,” she said.

“I didn't want it to be overtly dramatic and I didn't want to underplay it either. I just wanted to get the emotion right without making it look like victimizing her. Abhishek didn't want her to be victimized. I think we just tried to kind of strike a balance between strength, courage and vulnerability, and naivety. I think I tried to reflect that in her throughout the film,” she added.

Ayushmann and Vaani had a sizzling chemistry on screen and it was one of the integral elements of the plot. Talking about their chemistry, Vaani said, “It's all in the writing. I think the scenes and your chemistry look as good and wonderful as the writing of those scenes. How a director is directing you and they're telling you what I want at this moment and how I want this, I want to see love, I want to see this attraction, I want to see this chemistry and more happens. A lot comes from the writing of the film. And Ayushmann is an incredible actor, I don't think he has to get into so much detail to get chemistry. But I'm glad people are liking it.”

ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: Abhishek Kapoor on Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui- “Credit to Vaani Kapoor as most mainstream heroines will not take on this role”