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Actor Lillete Dubey started working in the movies when she was in her 40s, and her first theatrical release was Shyam Benegal’s Zubeidaa in 2001. The film was widely appreciated, and her role as Auntie Rose got her a lot of acclaim. In a recent interview, Lillete recalled that after Zubeidaa, she was flooded with offers, but all those offers had her playing similar characters. At that time, people told her, “Aap nayi Aruna Irani ban sakti hain (You could be the new Aruna Irani),” she recalled, but that wasn’t what she was interested in doing.
She shared with Cyrus Broacha on his podcast, “After I did it, there was this slew of offers of doing the same role again in a different avatar. So I said no. And they said ‘Aap nayi Aruna Irani ban sakti hain (You could be the new Aruna Irani)’. I said I really like Aruna Irani. I love her. She is a wonderful actress, but I don’t want to be like anybody, and I don’t want to duplicate myself like a clone and keep on doing the same role again and again. This role is done, so I don’t want to go into a draw which says ‘chulbuli aunty’, ‘bhabhi’ whatever.”
Lillete also recalled the story of how she landed the role of Auntie Rose. She shared that when she came to Mumbai with her husband, she already knew a lot of people because she had been working in theatre for decades already. It was during this time that many people started telling her that she was in Shyam Benegal’s new film, but she had no clue about it.
After many such interactions with people, she finally called Benegal and asked him if she was in his movie. “I said, ‘Shyam babu, I am so embarrassed but am I by chance doing anything in your new movie? Because everyone tells me that I am’. He said, ‘Of course, you are my dear, you are doing Auntie Rose,’ and I said, ‘Well, one small problem’. He said ‘What’s that?’ I said, ‘You haven’t told me’. He said, ‘Haven’t I? Just come to the office right now’.”
Soon after Zubeidaa, Lillete appeared in Monsoon Wedding and Gadar, which were both extremely popular.
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