Advait Chandan, who made his directorial debut with Aamir Khan‘s home production “Secret Superstar”, says actress Zaira Wasim, who plays the lead character in the film, is not a regular actor as she “internalises a character and delivers performance”.
In the film, Zaira has essayed the role of teenager Insiya who aspires to be a singer.
“I think Zaira doesn’t act, she internalises a character and delivers performance. Every emotion that we see on-screen is genuine and I think that is her strength. She is still emotionally pure, and not like a regular actor who knows how to project a certain emotion on-screen to get a certain effect,” Chandan told IANS.
Giving an example from the film, the director said: “Remember the scene where Insia gets frustrated and bursts out, breaking things and crying out loud’ All we did was prepare her emotionally without choreographing her movements.
“As the camera started rolling, she walked around, broke the bucket, threw things all over places to express her frustration and, as an audience, one could feel the realness of that moment, of that emotion; that’s Zaira for you. She is raw, untouched and pure,” he continued.
Though Chandan auditioned Zaira for the character of Insiya, according to him, getting the right person for the mother’s role was equally important since the story revolves around the ups and downs of a mother-daughter relationship.
Of the difficulties he faced during auditions, Chandan said: “I was looking for some factors like a good, friendly equation between two actors, that could translate on-screen nicely; I wanted the mother-daughter somewhere to look similar.”
“In the auditions, some actress was perfect to play the mother, but was not developing a rapport with Zaira; some would open up nicely but not look like mother-daughter. Finally, when we auditioned Meher, she bonded with Zaira nicely and there is a similarity in their looks. The audience would believe that Insia is the daughter of Najma. I am happy with the right casting,” he added.
“Secret Superstar” released on Diwali and has already minted Rs 14.10 crores at the box office.
