By Hindustan Times
In Prakash Jha’s Chakravyuh, Esha Gupta plays a IPS officer and admits that Kiran Bedi was her muse. The model-turned-actor, who makes her Bollywood debut this Friday in Jannat 2, says that Bedi is the one woman police officer she knows to have made it really big in a man’s world.
“She’s an even friend of my mother, and once I was in Delhi, I got to fulfill her around three-four times,” says Esha, remembering Bedi turning up at their place to celebrate festivals like Teej wearing red, with an identical ‘bindi’ and ‘chudis’ (bangles).”She looked very feminine, but at work she was the no-nonsense cop, like my character who's absolutely de-glam and doesn’t even wear lipstick. Another role model is my mother, who's one of the vital strongest women I know.”
Filmed in Bhopal, Chakravyuh is ready against the backdrop of the Naxal movement that’s been sparking off a number of headlines recently. Arjun Rampal also plays a cop, while Manoj Bajpai is a Naxalite and Abhay Deol’s character keeps changing shades. Esha admits she signed the film without even being attentive to the story.
“I adore Prakash sir and there has been no way I’d say no. But when I was in Bhopal, I felt like I USED TO BE back at school with him as a strict principal. And what made me much more nervous was that my first scene was with Om Puriji, a countrywide Award-winning actor,” she reminisces. Fortunately, the shoot went off well, I BELIEVE Prakashji is excited with my work. I USED TO BE lucky I'LL flashback to these meetings with Kiran Bedi, watch and hear her interviews online to make my character more real.”
