Mona Singh: “All the work I have done this year is because of Laal Singh Chaddha” | web series
As soon as I meet Mona Singh, I tell him that I am not exaggerating if I say 2023 as his year. He laughs and replies, “And I won’t be modest about it either.” With three shows – Kafas on SonyLIV, Made in Heaven Season 2 on Prime Video India and Kaala Paani on Netflix India – Mona has registered her presence across platforms, genres and has been doing so throughout the year. The winning streak not only allowed him to move on from the failure of Laal Singh Chadha, but also turned him into more work that he admired but was closely involved with.
(Also Read: Aaryan Khan Clicks Rare Selfie With Mona Singh, Fans Say: ‘Don’t Think I’ve Ever Seen That’)
There was a time they didn’t accept me as anything but Jas.
In the early days
“As army children, we lived in the palatial bungalows when my father was in command. We also stayed in the most broken, shackled, temporary housing. So army kids are like water, we take form wherever we are. Meeting people of different cultures, languages, going to different schools, it gives you so much exposure. So you don’t feel like an outsider in this industry because you’re trained from childhood to adapt, adapt and change,” says Mona, explaining why actors like her, Sushmita Sen, Priyanka Chopra and Anushka Sharma have made it. in Bollywood.
Adaptability not only helps him embody any character, but also calms him down in the midst of any turbulence. In her 20 years of acting, Mona has crossed daily soaps, reality shows, theatres, films and OTT. “There was a time when they didn’t accept me as anything but Jas. I knew I could do much more than that. There were many options that I took while filming, but I couldn’t leave the debut show. After that, it was a conscious effort not to move into a daily soap. Because I knew that since Jas was so mega, everything would be compared. I wanted to get rid of Jassi’s image.”
Her contract with Sony TV allowed her to host, participate in and even win a few reality shows like the inaugural season of Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa. Although the crowd has really embraced his informal hosting style, Mona admits that she has never enjoyed a gig like this. “Inside, I am an actor. But life surprises you. What you avoid comes to you first,” he says. All the hosting was not in vain. Apparently, hosting an award show got Rajkumar Hirani noticed and he made his Bollywood debut with 3 Idiots (2009).
The art of manifestation
Mona recalls watching the Munna Bhai franchise and wanting to be part of a Rajkumar Hirani film. But this was not the first time he had used his power of manifestation. Watching Banegi Afni Baath religiously in school made him announce to his non-cinema family that he wanted to do television. And finally he was signed for Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin by the same makers Tony and Deya Singh. “Any movie I like or a director I like, I throw my wishes out into the world,” says Mona, laughing.
It happened again in 2014-15 when Mona got fed up with TV and moved on to experimenting with theatre, led by Ryle Padamzi. “It was a time when most of my friends used to watch TVF’s permanent rooms, which was the first Indian serial, on YouTube. When I watched it, I thought it was great writing, limited series, and a good cast. I thought I should try something there. But people said it’s on YouTube, not enough reach and income. There are almost no likes. But I told him that he might take it,” says Mona. Lo and behold, he was approached by TVF for Yeh Meri Family in 2017, which was eventually picked up by Netflix India.
When I watched Season 1 of Made in Heaven, I asked myself why I’m not into it
The streaming giant was just entering India when Mona moved to OTT. He is happy that his saturation point with TV almost coincided with the launch of streaming in India. “There was a meme that people cut out of a puja scene I did on a TV show where the thali falls and shlokas start in the background like ‘Jai Jai Jai Jai’ and I was like, ‘Oh no, I did it!’ Par Theek Hye, I have no regrets. I am proud of it,” says Mona, who has taken her sweet time reaching big OTT platforms after two ALTBalaji shows and one ZEE5 original.
His biggest problem with television is the lack of access to the script. Since new paths are involved and the arc changes according to TRPs, Mona never knew where her character was going. For example, her schedule savvy allowed her to nail the memorable role of Bulbul Jauhar in Made in Heaven season 2 to perfection. “It’s another role, I think I’ve discovered it. When I watched Made in Heaven season 1, I asked myself why. I’m not in this business! I have to do this. After four years, I got my wish.
Bulbul Jauhari grabbed eyeballs from her introduction scene in the first episode when she entered the Made in Heaven office. Having started her career in the iconic workplace drama, Mona is no stranger to the dynamics of the genre. Like Jas, Nightingale was efficient and organized, but unlike him, she was not clumsy. “The footpath I was walking on (in the intro scene) was cobbled and broken. I was walking with high heels. I was told that all the shopkeepers are real, they are not planted actors. I just walked, greeted them, they were surprised, and I took the place, – recalls Mona with a laugh.
Workshops with the show’s co-creators Zoya Akhtar, Rema Kagti and Alankrita Srivastava helped her gradually master the nightingale’s body language. “They’ve all said she’s edgy, owns space, but she’s also totally feminine. She just walked out of the beauty salon with her hair down. She walks and acts like a man but is all female, vulnerable, feminist. When she sits, she doesn’t sit quite like a woman. Toda couple chauda kar ke, Seena chauda kar ke would sit,” adds Mona. But knowing her full arc made the slave take on the nightingale’s femininity, which contradicted her body language.
Mona is confident that Bulbul Jauhar will do for her next year what Gurpreet did for Advait Chandan’s Laal Singh Chadha this year. It’s ironic that Aamir Khan’s film, which was boycotted and thus flopped at the box office, brought him so many works.
Personally, I did not move on. No, I haven’t. A piece of me will always be there. What I am happy about is that Laal has become a big piece for me. Because people saw that I went from 16 to 60 in the film.
I met Aamir sir at a party, I asked how are you. He said, “Slave, everything is fine.” We must all go forward.’ I told him how Laal had changed my life. This year I have done 5 serials and one film and it’s all because of Laal.”
Mona recalls the day of its release when the film was declared a flop. He remembers visiting Aamir with Advait and working it out together. “We were silent, laughing, then I started crying. Advait was soothing me. It was a little difficult because we created a world full of love and compassion. Laal was all about it. He had no controversy. No bashing of religion and no personal attacks. It’s just a great movie. But people took it in a different way. They started a boycott. No one could believe that such a film could be treated like this. But we all knew for sure that the film we made is beautiful. Whether today, tomorrow or even 10 years from now, it will get the iconic status it is already getting. People have gone mental on the one year anniversary of the film,” says Mona.
Mona said that Amir wished her a happy mother’s day. She’s 16 years younger than the actress, but Mona insists she never shies away from being a mother on screen, no matter who she’s playing or how much she’s playing. She was not even married when TVF offered her to play a mother of three in Yeh Meri Family. “Why should I play only my age? So what’s the point? I am an actor, I should act at any age,” says Mona. She went on to play a first-time mom in 3 Idiots (remember she gave birth to a baby on a TT table?) to this year’s Made in Heaven season 2 as the mother of a troubled teenager.
Although she froze her eggs and isn’t sure she’ll be a mother yet, she doesn’t have to rely on that experience for her role as an on-screen mother. “I proved that you don’t have to be a mother to play a mother. It all comes from great writing and family. My mother has two daughters. Raising two girls in this world is not easy. When we passed that tender age, he quit his job and made sure we were taken care of. Mothers give like that. But we are realizing it only now,” says Mona.
His father lost his leg in the 1971 India-Pakistan war. Mona says that even though her mother raised her and her sister, she always had a soft spot for him. “Often daughters fight with their mothers and get along well with their fathers. I was the same, but now I’m trying to change. Because I feel like she deserves all the love. I spoke to him after one serial I did, then Made in Heaven and Laal. I always say that what I played in Laal Singh Chadha was my mother. “Of course he can’t drive a tractor,” Mona says, flashing a smile.
