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The spoken language in debutant Abhishek Chaubey's Ishqiya turned out to more problematic than just a censorial issue.
The film's leading lady Vidya Balan too was having major linguistic issues. Last month, when Vidya got down to dub her dialogues, she was shocked by the content. Says a source, "While shooting the scenes Vidya knew the dialogues were crudely colloquial in content. But she didn't realize their impact until she saw herself speaking on screen. When Vidya saw herself mouthing words that she had never heard before this film, she was horrified. She begged off from the dubbing saying she had a bad throat and rushed off."
Continues the source, "Vidya actually walked out not once but twice. After hearing the lurid content and the way she said those words on screen, Vidya simply sighed and said she couldn't say those lines again. The panicky dubbing-in-charge cajoled her back. But again Vidya left."
Director Abhishek had to step in to convince Vidya to just forget her own aesthetic sensibilities and speak the language of her saucy character.
But then if it is Vishal Bhardwaj's production it's got to be abusive. Kaminey legitimized the term kaminey. In Ishqiya we've the suave and sober Vidya Balan using the word 'ch***iya' without flinching.
Says Vidya, "It wasn't easy for me. I couldn't say the word out loud. During rehearsals I'd just mumble it under my breath or not say it at all. My co-star Arshad Warsi said I'd have to say it out loud in the rehearsals, or it wouldn't come out right in the final take. But I insisted on just skipping the word in the rehearsals. But when I said it out aloud in front of the camera it sounded like I had been saying it all my life. Fortunately Ishqiya had sync sound, so I thought I wouldn't have to say those expletives again."
Alas, woman proposes but the techno-God disposes. Many portions of the live sound in Ishqiya were found to be not up the mark and had to be dubbed. Finally, Vidya did dub. But not without cringe benefits.
Any fear of how the expletive would be received by women audiences? "Not at all. I came to know that the 'ch' word is actually a term of endearment in certain parts of North India. I'm holding my breath for the film to release to see audiences' reaction."
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