Sridevi Jr now Fardeen's love! Richa Pallod, a bold new aspirant

Arti R

Richa Pallod exudes a freshness in front of the camera despite 400 ad films, plays, music videos and a few South Indian films to her name. She has already bagged the Filmfare Best Actress Award for her debut film Nuvve Kavali this year.

With her first Hindi film, D Rama Naidu's Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch Hum Kahein due to hit the big screen in a month, Richa is waiting for her place in the sun. Even as she claims, "I never wanted to be an actress," her first film was with one of the best banners in the industry --- the Chopras. "Yash Uncle had seen my ad films on television. When he called, my parents couldn't say no," she says.

Richa was nine when she landed the role of young Sridevi in Yash Chopra's Lamhe. "I was terribly excited --- I was acting with Sridevi and Anil Kapoor, the biggest stars then. Watching Sridevi emote was an experience. She was very quiet on the sets. But once in front of the camera, all her energy would be unleashed.

"All she said to me was, 'Oh, so you play the younger me?'

"And I was tongue-tied." Richa says the scene that shook her was Sridevi's emotional outburst when her father dies in the film.

Anil Kapoor was more her buddy, she says. "He always egged me to watch films with him on his television and video. He was always peppy and cheerful. But Waheeda Rehman was the nicest. She would accompany my mother and me when we went shopping."

A not-so-pleasant memory is that she had to run behind a Rolls Royce 20 times before the shot was okayed in Lamhe. "In the middle of a 42-degree summer in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, I had to run almost a kilometer, each take and yell, 'Kunwarji!'

"The Rolls Royce just wouldn't raise enough dust and sound. Finally, the shot was okayed on the 20th take. I demanded a drive in the car!"

Today, Karisma Kapoor and Kajol have been added to her list of favourites. Sridevi still tops the list. "Kajol's acting and Karisma's dedication and hard work are inspiring." Richa shares more than her passion for dance with the Kapoor actress. "Filmmaker D Rama Naidu told me he hasn't launched anybody after Karisma in Prem Qaidi. And now, he is launching me [in Hindi]. That is an honour."

Apparently, D Rama Naidu, impressed by Richa's performance in Nuvve Kavaali, called her in Mumbai [for Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch Hum Kahein]. "I didn't know he was a senior producer. He was so sure I would like the role that he even had my cheque ready. The film wrapped up on time. What more could I have asked for in a debut [Hindi] film?"

Her role, maybe? "It is a perfect launch. My character is a bubbly character with emotional shades. What I like most about the role is that she is not this goody-two-shoes and a Sati Savitri. She can be blunt and state what she wants upfront."

She was nervous, Richa admits, for her first shot. "I had ten lines to say with my costar Farida Jalal. I was quite apprehensive about pulling it off. That is because I am very instinctive. If I get it wrong the first time, I know I won't get it right the tenth."

Her fears proved unfounded. Her experience in front of the camera and on stage helped. A 175 shows with theatre person Dinyar Contractor's Whose Wife Is It Anyway, she says, "gave me the confidence to act and emote in front of a million eyes."

Singers Falguni Pathak and Alka Yagnik's music videos helped her get used to the filmi jhatkas, "I am also a trained Kathak dancer, so that helped, too."

Richa has worked as production assistant with advertising professional Arti Surendranath. "When you are cleaning, sweeping, swabbing floors and running around for the littlest of things on a shoot for an ad or a documentary, you realise how tough life is behind the camera."

She says, reflectively, "I don't know whether acting and dance classes would have helped [me], but I have learnt a lot from my own mistakes. I enjoy acting. Most people when they see me cry for a shot, say, 'Wow, what a natural!' But I actually do cry and break down."

Here is an actress who hates makeup: "I hate the pressure of having to look good all the time. In Nuvve Kavali, I lived in jeans and T-shirts and shot with almost no makeup. To have to continuously check my makeup, hair or have my makeup man do it before a shot completely distracts me."

Remind her of her co-star Fardeen Khan and she says, in mock anger, "I am going to shoot him! I am so mad at him. Throughout the shoot, he kept pulling my leg till I blushed beetroot red. There were many kids on the sets. We would split into two teams and fight. Just like in the film. Our characters are continuously at loggerheads --- a mock cake fight, a prank where I burn Fardeen's pants and it backfires. We were continuously trying to outdo each other.

"Fardeen helped me improvise scenes. I think he is a complete gentleman and has a great sense of humour. You know, he was my senior at school."

Apparently, Fardeen was the only one who could get Richa to smile when she lost her luggage at Germany. "It had all the costumes that were required for a song. And I just howled my guts out. Fardeen consoled me saying, 'Richa, don't girls love shopping? Isn't this the perfect excuse to get out and buy all the clothes you want?' But after that, he would tease me mercilessly about how easily I burst out into tears."

Richa confesses she has been living out of a suitcase the last two years. And she hates travelling. "I had to travel to tiny villages in South India for Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch HUm Kahein. The stay was obviously like staying at a five-star hotel; the heat was killing. But all for a good film."

While she waits for a Friday to launch her dreams, Richa says matter-of-factly: "I am enjoying the adulation and being part of this industry. It was nerve-wracking signing autographs when I was in std IV when my first child documentary was released --- I didn't know how to sign. Now, I am used to it."