Be it "Baazigar", "Dushman", "Gupt", "Salaam Venky" and now series "The Trial", Kajol has a penchant for powerful female characters and the actor says portraying women who are not "weak and vulnerable" come naturally to her.
In the upcoming Disney+ Hotstar show, the actor plays Noyonika Sengupta, a housewife who is forced to return to work as a lawyer after her husband’s public scandal puts him behind bars.
Directed by Suparn S Varma, “The Trial - Pyaar, Kaanoon, Dhokha” is the Indian adaptation of popular American series “The Good Wife”.
Kajol said her choices as an actor mirror her powerful off-screen persona.
"To play a strong, powerful character is easier for me than to play a weak character. It is natural for me to be strong rather than to be vulnerable,” the actor told PTI in an interview.
"The great thing about Noyonika is that she is a strong person but when a strong person is put in a situation, where they are weakened and vulnerable, that’s a tough thing to play. It was one of the reasons why I love her as a character,” she added.
The 48-year-old said she could relate to Noyonika's way of dealing with difficult situations.
"Suparn wanted me because she is a public figure and she is a mother of two kids; there are so many factors in her character. One thing I resonate a lot more with Noyonika is the core, she is an eminently practical woman.
"She will do what needs to be done, even if it hurts her sensibility, if she knows it needs to be done, she will do it for the good of the family. She will go ahead and do it because there’s nobody else to do it,” Kajol added.
As an actor, Kajol said she still finds it difficult to be coy in front of the camera.
"I struggle with it... I don’t know how to be shy. I don't know how to do ‘sharam’. I don’t understand the emotion,” she said, adding that one genre she wants to explore is comedy.
"I haven’t found the right script. I really want to try comedy. I should because I do it so well in real-life," Kajol said.
"The Trial", which will premiere on Disney+ Hotstar on July 14, marks her long-format debut.
The actor said she received several offers for OTT series in the past, but nothing truly worked out until "The Trial".
"There was a lot of back-and-forth. I never think about ‘what if I had done this or accepted this’. I never think any film is mine till I sign on the dotted line and start working on it. I am very happy that ‘The Trial’ is the show that will be my OTT debut."
"The Trial" also features Sheeba Chaddha, Alyy Khan, Kubbra Sait and Gaurav Pandey. The show is produced by Banijay Asia and Ajay Devgn FFilms.
