Tena Desae
Tena Desae is set to make her big screen debut later this month with her new movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
I caught up with the actress to talk about the role, working with such experienced stars and what lies ahead.
- You are about to star in new movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel so can you tell me a little bit about the movie?
It’s about a bunch of British retirees and they have come to India to spend their twilight years. They come hoping to stay at this exotic hotel but they come and see that it’s anything but exotic.
It’s about their experience and time in India and how they accept this country - it’s about their experience and I will say no more than that.
- You take on the role of Sunaina in the movie so what was it about this character and the script that drew you to the project?
It’s funny and it also touches the heart; it’s got this great emotional side as well. But Sunaina’s character is mainly Sonny’s love interest and it’s about her dealing with Sonny’s mother’s resistance to her for marriage because she is from another community.
My character is this girl who is this strong and independent girl who is ambitious but also connected to her roots. So it’s mainly about dealing with the friction from Sonny’s mother.
- You have touched on my next question really I was wondering how we see her character develop throughout the movie?
There is not so much that I am aloud to say because it is secret but it is really the way that she deals with the resistance from the mother.
It’s a lot like how the younger generation in India are at the moment, we are all very ambitious and very independent but we are still very connected to our roots.
In spite of the fact that she is quite modern she is still very understanding towards people that are orthodox and old fashioned and so she deals with it in a very mature manner.
- So how familiar were you with the novel before you took on the role? How useful was the book to you as you developed your character?
No I haven’t read the book. I wanted to but I didn’t want to be influenced by it and I thought that I would really read the book after we had finished shooting the movie. But I haven’t done that I have only read the script - but I will read it at some point.
- The movie is directed by John Madden so how did you find him as a filmmaker?
He was great and he just let me be for most of the time. At the auditions he watched me closely and when I finally came on board he told me to just be myself - the reason that he took me on was because he liked my simplicity and he wanted me to keep that going throughout.
He gave me his notes all the way through the shoot but he really does let you be, he doesn’t direct you that much.
But he is also really understanding and he picks up on how his actors are feeling; there were some things that I was really nervous about and he went all out that there was a closed set or there was a discussion before the scene.
So I always knew what was going happen and I was calm about it so that was really nice of him to be so considerate towards me being a newcomer.
- Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson are all on the cast list so how did you find joining such an illustrious group of actors?
Blessed (laughs). I was just really really happy. When I heard that they were all going to be together I was on top of the world. They are also very easy to talk to and work with so I had a great time working with them and credit to them for that.
- Dev Patel is on the cast list as well so can you tell me a little bit about working with him?
Dev was great for the energy as he kept everyone entertained; he really is a bundle of energy. But he is also someone who is very easy to work with because he constantly discusses the scene with you.
We had many rehearsals and we were always discussing what we could do differently and what we wanted the other one to do to change the tempo of a scene or the way that we wanted to say a certain line.
And I liked that because when you are able to discuss something so openly it becomes easier to work with that person. So he was great to work with and he was great company to.
- You kicked off your acting career in Bollywood so how did you find making the move into a British movie?
I came in thinking that it was going to be hugely different but it wasn’t. The set up was different; I had worked on smaller films before this so the set up was the most significant think.
Maybe time, everything works like clockwork here, if you are five minutes late there is an inquiry to find out what the delay was; if it was traffic then you leave five minutes earlier. Other that I didn’t find anything significantly different.
- So where did you shoot the movie and how was your experience out there?
We shot mostly in Rajasthan, for the British actors there was a tiny schedule in London, but mostly it was in Rajasthan. It was my first time in Udaipur as well and it was just really really beautiful - it has this really big lake.
We almost took over the town whenever you went to this restaurant you found some of the team and when you went someone else you would find more.
But it was really great and it was really cosy. We had a great time and we really utilised the locations, some of the locations I don’t even know how they found. It was a great location choice.
- So how much are British or American movies an area you want to move into? Do you have plans to go back to Bollywood movies?
I will definitely continue to do Bollywood because that is my thing and I can’t not do it - I have to do the singing and the dancing because it is so much fun. But I would like to explore my opportunities in the west so we will have to wait and see.
But if something was to come along than why not as this was a great film experience and I would love to do more.
- You have been described as the new Freida Pinto so what do you think about comments like that?
It would be best if we weren’t compared. She has done a great body of course so it is only a good thing.
But everyone has there own success story or their own destiny - of course I want my own little happy story so it would be better if people didn’t compare us.
- Finally what’s next for you?
I go back to India where I will hopefully have some good news about another film. But I am going to go back and continue with my modelling work.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is released 24th February
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw