Kiara Advani: Such on-screen depiction of marriages is rare

Halfway into the year Kiara Advani already has a blockbuster under her belt in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 Celebrations are in order but at the moment she is neckdeep in promotions for Juggjugg Jeeyo The Anil Kapoor Neetu Kapoor and Varun Dhawanstarrer is special to Advani for a simple reason ldquoIt has its heart in the right placerdquo she says ldquoRaj Mehta director has made a sensitive and entertaining movie This is my second film with him after Good Newwz and he is a fine director who has a command over family stories and emotionsrdquoA still from JugJugg JeeyoThrough the arc of two couples at different stages of marriage the film discusses the complexities of relationships how people grow apart and divorce ldquoWe had to develop backstories of our characters to bring depth to our performances We jammed together to add things that werenrsquot on paper In most cases relationships fall apart due to lack of communication and ego The fights and turmoil had to be personal We didnrsquot want to make it about right and wrong instead we wanted to show both perspectives The film might appear to be a masala fare but we have added gravitas to it I am particularly proud of a sequence where Varun and my character get into a fight because she supports his mother Neetursquos character It captures how falling out of love and the desire to make a marriage work arenrsquot corelatedrdquoBesides being impressed by the filmrsquos honest gaze at todayrsquos marriages Advani says her character was a big draw ldquoShe is a strong independent woman who has her own ambitions She wants to create a marriage of equal partnership Such onscreen depiction of marriages is rarerdquo While JugJugg Jeeyo is barely a week away from release her last offering Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is still running strong The horror comedy has breached the Rs 175crore mark to become the highest Bollywood earner of 2022 so far at a time when Hindi films are floundering at the box officeAdvani takes a minute to soak in the numbers before saying ldquoItrsquos a film that has given hope to the industry It shows that a good entertainer still has the power to attract the audience I am fortunate that my first release after the pandemic did this well As an actor therersquos nothing more delightful than to deliver movies that bring back the communityviewing experiencerdquoBut it is often noticed that a filmrsquos success is attributed mainly to the leading man Thankfully Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 has been an exception with its leads Kartik Aaryan Tabu and Advani being jointly credited for its runaway success The change though in its early stage is significant ldquoThe notion is changing with more female actors taking centrestage and with more female journalists on the field observing this and pushing for the change There is still a long way to go but the shift is perceivable But in the case of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 the success primarily belongs to the producers and the director Anees Bazmee who showed faith and patience for three years of the pandemic A lot of films took the OTT route but our producers held onrdquoAlso Read Neetu Kapoor gets emotional at Jug Jugg Jeeyo trailer launch I wish Chintuji was here