Urmila on 20 years of Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya: It set the bar for the anti-heroine

Twenty years ago, Urmila Matondkar played the role of an obsessed lover in the late Rajat Mukherjee directorial, Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya (2001) and “set the bar for the anti-heroine role”. The romantic thriller co-starred Fardeen Khan and Sonali Kulkarni and was produced by Ram Gopal Varma.

Recalling the experience, Matondkar says, “In our films, we are used to innocent, saccharine sweet heroines but back then, this film and my character, Ria broke the mould. We had seen anti-hero, which were accepted by audiences but not anti-heroine! Today, if a movie like this is released, it won’t be a novel idea as we have seen many on OTT and in cinemas. But back then, it broke boundaries. I am glad that I got the chance to do that way earlier than others. That’s why it remains a special film in my career. I had said this back then, that even after 10 years, heroines will think twice before taking up such a role, let alone do justice to it.”

The actor recalls how Manish Malhotra was supposed to design costumes but due to his busy schedule he couldn’t. She shares, “I ended up putting together a dishevelled look for Ria. There was minimal to none makeup in most scenes. Other than the physical traits, to take a character who people don’t like and make her vulnerable, form connect with the audiences was challenging and the whole journey was an incredible process. In fact, people were rooting for Ria in many scenes and it was a big success for me, personally, that as an actor I could manage to connect with the audiences. Though Ria was wrong in her obsession, her feelings were so genuine that appealed to people.”

During the climax shoot, Khan was supposed to hit her in a move suggested by her and while doing so, he almost hit her on her ribs. “Had I not ducked, I could have been hurt badly. So, I fell and I couldn’t stand or walk after the shot. I couldn’t even breathe for a long time and was taken to the hospital. He was most apologetic and we laughed about it later,” she reveals. Another highlight of the film was the music. While her favourite is Roundhe hai mujhe tera pyaar, it was Kambhkht Ishq which was a super success among the youth. “It was shot like an item song for promotion and served its purpose. We shot for it in few hours at Vasai fort in the scorching sun. It remains one of my best choreographed and shot songs.”

Matondkar is glad even today people remember her performance in the film. She says one of the sweetest compliments came from (late) Feroz Khan saab, who said, “You made me cry and I don’t like crying’. I was stumped. Unfortunately, Rajat is no more but he had a lot of energy on sets. We made sure that the nuances in the scenes were taken care of and Ria’s vulnerability was not affected. Another one was from Hrithik Roshan, who after watching my introduction shot, told me that he couldn’t believe that a woman’s back could look so defined,” she signs off.