Remember Flora Saini — best known to the Telugu audience as ‘Lux Papa’ from the Balakrishna-starrer Narasimha Naidu? She will soon be seen along with Vidya Balan in Begum Jaan. In fact, it was her role in Nagesh Kukunoor’s Dhanak that helped her bag the much talked about film.
“I play a tribal woman from Gujarat, Maina. We have women from different states in the brothel in the film. Director Srijit Mukherji spotted me in Dhanak during a film festival. It was then that he was planning to remake Rajkahani in Hindi with Vidya. I went for the auditions and then bagged the role,” says Flora.
The shoot was great fun, mainly because people on the sets didn’t miss their family all thanks to Vidya. “Shooting with Vidya was the best. She would take care of us and give us gifts, because we missed our families,” recalls Flora.
The shoot lasted for 30 days, before which Flora had to undergo a month- long workshop. “We visited brothels and watched movies based on them. Since I acted in Nagesh’s Lakshmi, which also revolves around a brothel, I was already prepared.” Apart from Begum Jaan, a few web series are keeping Flora busy. She starred in Maid In India and is also doing A.I.SHA — My Virtual Girlfriend.
The actress, who made her debut in T’wood with Prema Kosam 17 years ago, says that she would want to come back, but the offers have stopped. “I love the Telugu film industry because of their punctuality. But, people have forgotten me. I speak Telugu fluently and I am hoping that the filmmakers here will watch Begum Jaan and call me back.”
