’Seeta and Geeta are two halves of the same person’

Says director Dibakar Banerjee, who wants leading lady Katrina Kaif to do some serious self-exploration for the remake of the 1972 film

'Seeta and Geeta are two halves of the same person'

Says director Dibakar Banerjee, who wants leading lady Katrina Kaif to do some serious self-exploration for the remake of the 1972 film

His film will explore the dark underbelly of human nature and Kaif will have to do some serious self-exploration to play the roles of the twins.

Banerjee does not want Kaif to get influenced by Hema Malini's performance in the original. He has given her a list of films and books on pain and catharsis to prepare for the roles. Some of the films include Bimal Roy's Devdas and Guru Dutt's Pyasa and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. According to Banerjee, Shabana Azmi's portrayal of an unmarried girl living with her ailing mother in a state of ruin in Mrinal Sen's Khandhar will be a reference point for Kaif's role.

Clearly, Kaif won't have to jump onto the ceiling fan and bash up goons, as Malini did in the original comic caper.
Banerjee says, "I love Seeta Aur Geeta. It is great fun to watch the film. But I don't view Seeta as good and Geeta as evil. One is weak, and the other aggressive. The evil forces come from outside."

"Seeta and Geeta are two halves of a complete individual. We may have hidden fears and insecurities like Seeta but we also possess amazing reserves of courage like Geeta. We, like the two sisters, take injustice to a point and then we give it back," he adds.

Banerjee sees Seeta Aur Geeta as a story of intense suffering and catharsis.

"Watching Seeta tortured by her wicked aunt is not easy for us. The aunt tries to strip Seeta of all dignity. In one sequence, she even takes Seeta's sari off. But when the aunt gets it back from Geeta, the joy and relief is therapeutic."

And the director is insistent that Kaifu00a0 will not get influenced by Malini's performance. These dark undertones and tragic ramifications are perhaps not quite what Kaif had bargained for when she eagerly admitted to MiD DAY last year that she was all set to do Seeta Aur Geeta.
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Kaif, we understand, will have to comprehend the suffering of Seeta. And when she gets into the vendetta mode as Geeta, the stunts would be the least of her concerns. She would have to portray the wages of sin as being more than just physical death.

The director however, is yet to start work on the remake. He is waiting for the copyright issues to get sorted. "People have told me there have been other variations on the same theme that have not paid heed to copyright violations," he says. "With due respect to Ram Aur Shyam and Chalbaaz, I don't want to remake those films. I want to remake Seeta Aur Geeta."

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