Aditi Rao Hydari meets her comic side in Parivarik ManuRanjan
Hindi cinema has never lacked women who could make audiences laugh. From Sridevi turning mistaken identities and impeccable physical timing into an art in ChaalBaaz, to Juhi Chawla’s infectious spontaneity in Ishq and Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke, and Madhuri Dixit’s effortless timing in the scenes of Dil To Pagal Hai and Total Dhamaal, female actors have often proved that comedy is as much about personality and precision as it is about punchlines. Now, Aditi Rao Hydari is taking a stab at the genre with Parivarik ManuRanjan.
Best known in recent years for playing Bibbojaan in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar and Sumitra Kumari in Jubilee, Aditi is entering a different territory with the family comedy, which pairs her with Pankaj Tripathi. Directed by Varun V Sharma, the film centres on an unlikely pairing, with situational humour and the complications of everyday relationships driving the story.
For Aditi, the attraction was the script’s ability to make her laugh through and through. She also described working with Pankaj, known for his understated comic performances, as an opportunity to learn from a master of the genre.
Pure comedy, however, is a different from playing a character who happens to have funny moments. It demands timing, an instinct for the unexpected and the ability to make an ordinary reaction land as well as a carefully written line. For an actor whose recent work has often relied on emotions of period dramas, the challenge lies in finding humour without losing the individuality she brings to a role.
The women who have excelled at comedy in Hindi cinema have rarely relied on one formula. Sridevi’s physical expressiveness, Juhi’s spontaneous charm and Madhuri’s ability to balance mischief with star presence gave their comic performances a punch. Their work also showed that a female character need not exist merely to react to a male protagonist’s antics; she can drive the joke, disrupt the situation and control its rhythm.
That is the space Parivarik ManuRanjan could open up for Aditi. Her pairing with Pankaj offers the possibility of a comedy built around two contrasting personalities rather than a conventional hero-and-heroine dynamic. For Aditi, the appeal of stepping into this lighter world is the most interesting change of pace for an actor is learning to make an audience laugh.