For an actress
who loves playing serious roles, her latest film ‘Enemy?’ affords her another
opportunity to display her acting acumen. In fact, in most of her films, like
the recent blockbuster ‘Nachom-ia-Kumpasar’, ‘The Letters’ and ‘O Maria’ to
name a few, for Dr Meenacshi Martins, being ‘serious’ has been her forte.
“I love playing
serious roles,” she admits. “I love the whole process of the film; preparing
for it and getting even the smallest details correct. In fact, for ‘Enemy?’, I
recall borrowing sarees from Maria Aurora Couto so as to have the right look
for the live midnight Mass scene,” recalls Meenacshi.
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Being asked to
essay the role of a very powerful protagonist was another plus point.
“I recall when
Dinesh Bhonsle approached me with the script in August last year, I was
reluctant to accept as I had already moved base to Mumbai. But when he narrated
the story to me, I was very taken up with the strong character of the
protagonist Isabella Ferreira e Almeida,” she avers.
True to her
acting prowess, Meenacshi does justice to the gamut of emotions and strength of
character in a story that focuses on the Enemy Property Act 1965 and the loss
of one’s ancestral property to the government on account of it.
The story
background, shown in flashbacks, alludes to a traditional Goan girl, Isabella,
who lives with her parents in Karachi. However, in the course of time, her
mother moves with her to Goa while the father stays back in Karachi. Married to
an army man, who becomes a ‘ghor zhaovi’, she is unfortunately widowed young. Her
only son becomes her confidant and emotional support. She joins her son Sanjit
Almeida who is a captain in the army out of Goa, but she visits her maternal
home once in six months. However, this year, when they return back home, they
are shocked to find that the government has acquired their ancestral home and
property.
“Isabella is a
very determined person despite, or maybe because of, her difficult childhood. She
comes from a broken home and is adept at handling the property, although not
legal matters. But when she is faced with this demon, she eventually stands up
and fights for the integrity, dignity and rights of her family, despite her
fears, sorrow and grief. She tries hard to cope and sometimes wonders whether
she can succeed. Her saving grace are the villagers, so many of whom face the
same problem, and the parish priest who stand by her,” explains Meenacshi, who
has managed to convincingly essay the role of a mother who on one hand stands
strong in the face of adversity, but also turns to her son for emotional support.
“Thanks to
producer A Durga Prasad who gave us the freedom to do the things we wanted to
do. We have not only screened the film at IFFI, Goa, but will be doing so at
the Kolkata Film Festival and Bioscope Global Film Festival in Delhi,” says
Meenacshi, convinced of the great potential of a film that allowed her to
explore and essay yet another serious but strong character.
