'Goldfish' has a universal story: Deepti Naval on new film

People are going to identify with it in a big way because elders in a family get into dementia and Alzheimers.People my age are looking after their 20 years older parents, who are suffering from dementia and Alzheimers, so it is a story of almost every family, the 70-year-old actor told PTI in an interview.The senior people get into that zone and it impacts memory, the flickering of the mind, those are the things that need to be dealt with, she added.The other reason was the opportunity to collaborate with Koechlin and director Kriplani.I wanted to work with Kalki.

Veteran actor Deepti Naval believes her upcoming film "Goldfish" will strike a chord with audiences across the globe as it deals with a universally appealing theme of memory loss and identity.

The English-language movie features Naval and actor Kalki Koechlin as a mother and daughter duo. It is directed by Pushan Kripalani, son of noted actor Jayant Kriplani, known for shows such as "Khandaan" and "Mr. Mrs and Ji Mantriji".

For Naval, one of the reasons for boarding the project was that it dealt with a story that is prevalent in almost every Indian household.

''The subject of this film is very universal. People are going to identify with it in a big way because elders in a family get into dementia and Alzheimer's.

''People my age are looking after their 20 years older parents, who are suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's, so it is a story of almost every family,'' the 70-year-old actor told PTI in an interview.

''The senior people get into that zone and it impacts memory, the flickering of the mind, those are the things that need to be dealt with,'' she added.

The other reason was the opportunity to collaborate with Koechlin and director Kriplani.

''I wanted to work with Kalki. I have enjoyed all her movies and director Pushan Kriplani... he is very promising," Naval said.

Set in London, "Goldfish" narrates the story of Anamika (Koechlin), the child of a mixed marriage, returns home to her estranged mother Sadhana (Naval) because she is suffering from the onset of dementia. Ana returns to a neighbourhood she barely remembers, to a woman who sometimes doesn't remember her.

Known for films such as "Chashme Buddoor", "Katha", "Kissi Se Na Kehna" and "Saath Saath", Naval said it was her co-actor Rajit Kapur who had pitched the basic idea of "Goldfish" to her and she instantly fell for it.

''Rajit had called me and said there is a role and everything about the film is fixed. He asked if I would like to hear it. He just gave me three sentences of the film and I liked the very idea about it.

''He said (Kriplani) is a new director and he has made one film. It is there on YouTube. I hadn't seen the film but I knew he was Jayant Kriplani's son.'' The film gave the veteran star an opportunity to essay a role that didn't fall into the usual trappings of an on-screen mother, she said.

''It is an estranged relationship between a mother and daughter and that was interesting to explore. For me, it was a new sort of thing. I have played mother characters before but they were kind of simplistic. But then I stopped playing because simplistic mother characters are a dime a dozen and you get them in every film.

''So, I wanted to stay away from that, so I waited till I got a role like this. when I heard the subject of the film, I immediately sensed this is something I need to do." Naval described Sadhana as a strong and independent woman who lives alone and may not be aware that she has slipped into dementia.

The actor said she tried to draw references from her real life experiences.

''I always try to find connecting factors from real life. Sometimes you have to do with imagination because you have no reference from real life regarding certain situations and scenes.

''Mostly, in terms of the character, I try to place it in real life somewhere and see how far I can draw from real life for the character that I am playing," she said.

''Goldfish'' is set to have its world premiere at the 27th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). The movie will be screened under the 'A Window on Asian Cinema' section of the festival, which will run from October 5 to 14.

Naval said the film has been made with a lot of love and the team undertook the challenge of shooting it amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

''Being selected and screened at the festivals is great for a film like this. It was made during the pandemic. We took those chances. We were shooting in London and we were all quarantined under difficult circumstances for ten days," she said.

"Eventually, we will be able to find the film at the Goa festival as well, so we get some feedback from Indian audiences as well," she added.

''Goldfish'' is a UK production. It is produced by Amit Saxena's Splendid Films (USA) and executive produced by Pooja Chauhan.

The movie also features Gordon Warnecke and Bharti Patel.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)