Freedom at Midnight: Malishka Mendonsa reveals prep for Sarojini Naidu's role - 'The prosthetics took...' | Exclusive

RJ-turned-actress Malishka Mendonsa is eagerly waiting for her web show Freedom at Midnight's digital release. The actress will be seen essaying the role of the late Indian politician Sarojini Naidu. Malishka, as Sarojini Naidu, is an integral part of Nikkhil Advani's series. The show will highlight events that happened around India's independence and partition. Before FAM's release, OTTplay interviewed Malishka, who revealed everything that went into preparing for her character.

Malishka Mendonsa on playing Sarojini Naidu in Freedom at Midnight

In an exclusive interview with us, Malishka Mendonsa discussed her audition for Freedom at Midnight and the preparation required to play Sarojini Naidu, the former governor of Uttar Pradesh. Malishka recalled receiving a long voice note from the makers, which was an introduction to the late politician and her personality. 

Also read: Freedom at Midnight trailer out! The battle at the final leg to achieve independence ft. Nikkhil Advani and Sidhant Gupta

Recalling her audition for Nikkhil Advani's series, Malishka told OTTplay, "Around Navratri, I went for the audition. Pre-audition, I was told that they perhaps need a Bengali accent (for the character). I told them I didn't know it but requested them to give me time. Since there were four weeks left, I assured them that I would learn it in a week or so."

Later when Malishka came on board for the show, the actress was told about the amount of hard work required for her role. "One was to get into the character. Perhaps, you have seen (Mahatma) Gandhiji, (Pandit Jawaharlal) Nehru, or Sardar (Vallabhbhai Patel) on the screen. But for some of these characters, you haven't seen too much of (Muhammad Ali) Jinnah, Fatima (Jinnah), or Sarojini (Naidu), for sure. So, there was a chance to craft her role based on what I had read, what I had been told by Nikkhil, and the fact that there would be prosthetics," shared Mendonsa.

The actress stated that a lot of hard work went into crafting all the characters in Freedom at Midnight. Malishka revealed the internal prep work was to figure out who the characters were and how the actors were required to portray them on the screen.

Talking about the external prep work, Malishka added, "We all have gone through rounds and rounds of prosthetics. The prosthetics took an average of 3.5 hours for me in a chair. So, if the call time was 11 am, you got into a chair like 5 in the morning. One was internal prep work and the other was external prep work. All of it coming together makes Freedom at Midnight what it is."

Malishka Mendonsa shares more insights

Towards the end of the conversation, Malishka offered more insights about her prep for Sarojini Naidu's role in the web show. "For me, it was going through everything from history textbooks to just re-going through Freedom at Midnight book, which I read a lot earlier in my life, to speaking to my director, diction, and dialect coach," she said. 

Malika went on to add, "I remember one of the things they said was that there was a particular way she (Sarojini Naidu) would walk. I was actually told ki 'aap saree pehenke just walk around and get into that system because it is not easy'. Now, I can run in a saree. The character has given as much as I have given the character. 9 months of our lives!"

Freedom at Midnight will stream on SonyLIV and OTTplay Premium on November 15.

Also read: Freedom at Midnight OTT release date: When and where to watch the political web series about India’s independence