Neeyat director Anu Menon: An ensemble cast is like an orchestra

Vidya Balan's upcoming film, Neeyat, has a large ensemble cast of some of the most talented actors in the Hindi film industry. This includes Ram Kapoor, Rahul Bose, Neeraj Kabi, Niki Walia, Shahana Goswami, Prajakta Koli, Dipannita Sharma, and Shashank Arora. Director Anu Menon is credited with leading the entire cast.   

During a recent interactive session with the media in Mumbai, the actors were asked if any of them felt insecure or overshadowed by the others.

Niki promptly replied, "There was nothing of the sort. All our parts are equally important in the narrative, so we did not have any issues about kisi ka role chhota hai ya kisi ka zyada hai."

To this, Shahna added, "Neeyat has a character-driven narrative, and Anu wanted to give some quirk to each character. So every character is written in a specific way. I can guarantee that, even though there are so many characters, you will not be able to forget any of them after watching the film. When you are part of an ensemble cast, you need each other, and there is no room for insecurity. If my co-star is not playing their part correctly, my performance will be affected. It is very interactive that way. So, for all of us, it was the cast in its entirety that made the story."

Adding to this, Ram said, "I think Niki and Shahana can take up all the screen space and be memorable without even mouthing a single dialogue."

Rounding up the topic, Anu added, "An ensemble cast is like an orchestra where every musician performs their parts correctly and everyone has to perform together. Each person has an instrument that they play with perfection. So, when someone is playing the piano, the person playing the violin won't ask their fellow musician to shut up, right? An ensemble cast is like that: everyone performs in harmony to eventually bring the story together."

Neeyat will release in theatres on July 7.