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Lisa Haydon was overshadowed and forgotten in Aisha but a small part in Vikas Bahl’s Queen got her the attention, she deserved. Her next film is already gearing up for release this Friday and speaking to Koimoi about her year which in true sense is beginning her career in Bollywood, Lisa was ecstatic.
Looking visibly thrilled, Haydon told us, “2014 has been a great year. It’s been a big surprise and I was really happy that Queen did what it did. Moreover, people really related to the characters in the film, be it Rani, be it Vijaylakshmi, everything. Mostly the story clicked. And The Shaukeens is the sweet fruits of Queen and my first film since then. To me, it was a very easy shooting process. Being on set can have a lot of challenges and it can be difficult in terms of navigating the script, location, circumstances but this was really fun, easy, lighthearted script that it felt almost like a working holiday. I hope that the joy, humor and mirth gets conveyed in the script.”
But the response and love for Queen was pretty much unexpected for all and sundry. Especially Lisa’s character could have been prone to judgement. But the perspective with which Vikas has painted her, coupled with Lisa’s endearing persona made her easy to be loved. Lisa explained, “I didn’t expect the response Vijaylakshmi got in Queen at all. It was Kangana’s film. Vikas during shooting had improvised on a lot of scenes very impromptu. It was very unsettling for me, that you have to deliver in the moment sort of thing. I wasn’t sure if it will get conveyed rightly because we were working on our feet and a good part of Queen came naturally in the course of shooting it. When I saw the film, I realized how it had all blended together. The fact that people accepted her was huge because she is culturally very different from people who are in mass belts of India. The fact that people even connected with her and they felt like they wanted to be like her, was the most exciting response for me.”
Usually models are labeled as non actors. Even Deepika Padukone was called just a pretty face before she proved herself. While the visibility for models is good, the hindrance remains. Lisa maintains that you need to have the perspective to detach a model from her fur and feathers image and find the actor in her. She said, “Since I was coming from modelling to acting, I did not know if anyone before Queen quite saw me detached from the frills and glamor. But things had to happen and they did. You can’t strive to change things. You’ll be lucky if things change or you learn how to be happy anyway.”
Akshay Kumar, who plays himself in The Shaukeens was all of praise for the lady. He told us, “She has a great memory. Once she is there to give a shot, she knows all her lines, and is well rehearsed She has a great understanding of the camera and hence brings a natural essence to her work.”
Lisa, who plays an Akki fan, loves him but calls herself a little more saber, a little more composed compared to her screen character. She laughs and tells us, “Ahana is one screaming fan of Akshay. A normal person can respect Akshay for his body of work but to screech and stalk like she does in the movie, isn’t tolerable behavior.
I would call myself a respectable fan.”
The Shaukeens is all set to release this Friday and is going to be a fun and promising comic watch this weekend.
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