The modern day parents of Bitti from ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ share their experiences

The slice of life flick ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ starring Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao and Kriti Sanon is up for release on August 18, 2017. The movie focuses on Kriti Sanon, the Bareilly girl who is way ahead of the place, and the sweet and sour love that ensues on her meeting Ayushmann Khurrana and Rajkummar Rao. But, we also need to focus on her onscreen parents, played by Pankaj Tripathi and Seema Pahwa. Pankaj plays the role of Narottam Mishra and Seema plays the role of Sushila, Bitti’s parents who are concerned about their daughter’s marriage and want to find the perfect groom for her. However, their liberal thoughts set them apart as they lend support to their daughter’s desires.

Says Pankaj Tripathi, “It’s a wonderful experience playing a sweet, simple father. It was the sincerity of Narottam Mishra that drew me to the role. He is not a typical father, the kind usually seen in our movies. While he’s funny, he’s also sensible and shares a great bond with his daughter. Above everything, he is progressive, which is rare in small towns. He knows that his daughter smokes, but he doesn’t judge her for that. He also allows Bitti to choose her partner. You, too, will relate to Mishraji; you’d be reminded of someone you know. You won’t find him going over the top.” (Also Read: Kriti: ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ is not a love triangle, it’s more of a family film)

He shared his experience of working with the senior artiste Seema Pahwa, who plays his wife onscreen. Pankaj Tripathi said, “This is our first film together. I had asked Ashwiny how we’d look like a couple because we don’t look the same age. While Seemaji’s character is a bit loud — thoda cheekhna-chillana hai — my character is the opposite. Seemaji is a senior artiste who comes from theatre. So, we used to improvise a lot, which in turn helped Kriti better her scenes.”

Seema Pahwa also spoke about her character, by saying, “As actors, you have to go beyond the script and observe people around you. During my travels to UP, I’ve observed many common women. My character is inspired by all of them, whose only worry is to find their daughters a good match. I’ve also drawn inspiration from my aunts, whose worlds are limited to their homes and children. Almost 90 per cent mothers in India have the same worry: bachche ki shaadi.”

Talking about her onscreen daughter, the senior artiste said, “Initially, I had thought, ‘Kriti bahut modern ladki hai. How will she even understand what Bareilly is and what sort of girl Bitti is?’ But from the first shot, we got our chemistry right. She understood her character well. In fact, during a workshop, I remember she had placed her hand on my shoulder aur maine uska haath jhatak diya, kyunki maaon ko aisa khulapan accha nahi lagta. The whole team said, ‘Yeh maa beti tayaar ho gayi hain’ and Kriti started laughing because that is how our on-screen equation is. Rajkummar (Rao) was also fun to work with. This is my third film with Ayushmann (Khurrana) as his mother-in-law. Hum saas-daamaad package deal mein aate hain!”

Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, written by Nitesh Tiwari, ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ is all set to release on August 18, 2017.

Prajakta Ajgaonkar

Passionate about writing, and a Bollywood lover, she is all that is sweet and endearing! She desires to put her best foot forward in everything that she does and loves to help anyone who’s in need.