Siya actor Pooja Pandey talks about shooting the 'mentally heavy' abduction scene for Manish Mundra film | Exclusive
India Today
Pooja Pandey plays the lead role in Manish Mundra's Siya. In an exclusive interview with IndiaToday.in, Pooja talks about two of the most challenging scenes she had to shoot for Siya.
Actress Pooja Pandey makes her Bollywood debut with Manish Mundra's Siya. The film follows the story of 17-year-old Siya Singh, a rape survivor who ultimately falls prey to the flawed justice system. Siya will release in cinemas on Friday, September 16. Ahead of the film's release, Pooja exclusively spoke to IndiaToday.in about two of the most challenging scenes she had to shoot for Siya.
Siya follows the story of a gangrape survivor, and therefore sensitivity was key when scripting. Debutant director Manish Mundra handles that with the utmost care. But, recreating and reliving those heinous, brutal moments did take a toll on Pooja Pandey, who plays the titular role in Siya. "The entire film was mentally heavy for me. Court wala scene, that's there in the trailer, mujhe bohot zyada problem karta tha. Aur sabse zyada abduction scene, which was shot 6-7 days after we started shooting for the film. For that scene, mujhe sir [Manish Mundra] ne prepare kar diya tha. He said ki 'tumko hum chain se bandh kar rakhenge, khaana peena sab bandh hai tumhara' (The court and abduction scenes were most challenging for me. For the abduction scene, the director had informed me that I would be chained and I wouldn't get anything to eat or drink)."
Siya, in the film, was kept chained in a room for days as she was brutalised by four men. Pooja also revealed how, in order to get into the character of Siya, she was kept in the room alone, while the rest of the crew were downstairs. "Mere sath waha koi rehta hi nahi tha. Sab niche aur main uss room mein akeli bandh rehti thi so I could understand how the rape victim, jiske saath aise hua hai, must have felt. Uske upar kya beet ta hoga aur kya trauma hota hoga jab vo raat ko soti hogi (There would be no one in the room with me. Everyone was downstairs while I was in the room alone. So I could understand the trauma that a rape victim goes through when she sleeps at night)," she said.
Manish Mundra, who has produced films like Vicky Kaushal's Masaan or Rajkummar Rao-starrer Netwon, ventures into direction with Siya. Apart from Pooja Pandey, the film stars Vineet Kumar Singh as a lawyer and a friend of Siya's family. The official synopsis of the film reads - A small town girl, Siya, who decides to fight for justice, fights against all odds and starts a movement against the vicious system.