Mumbai:

Urmila Matondkar says her new film Banaras has made her recognise elements in life that are not discernible to the eye as much as they have made her grow as an actress.

“I play this physics student whose father is a high-profile priest. When I read the script I was stuck by the strength of my character. But I got a full measure of my part only when I went to Varanasi and saw what the city signified,” Urmila said about her character Shwetambari.

Urmila describes Banaras as a “simple straightforward love story. And since the setting is Varanasi there’s an element of mysticism about the whole experience.

“It’s very important to continue growing as a person. An actor could have the best bank balance in the world, but she shouldn’t wake up one day to realise she hasn’t got anywhere in life.

Banaras has humbled me. It has made me recognise elements in life that are not discernible to the eye.”

For Urmila, going to Varanasi itself was a life-changing experience. “And I’m not just talking about the experience of standing in a city which is extraordinarily rich in religion, culture and spirituality. I’m also talking about being in the midst of people who are hardcore Hindi-film fans, not the kind who watch DVDs but queue up in movie theatres on Fridays. After a while the sheer spirituality of Varanasi begins to sink into you. The city has people from all over the country...and when you visit you know why they like to come to this city. The place is a marvel of architecture and aestheticism. And we got to shoot in places where no film has been shot like the Kabir Samadhi, Sarnath.”

Urmila knows the film’s spirituality can be dismissed as fake. “We shall see about that soon. Speaking for myself, I haven’t felt a single false note in Banaras. Dialogue writer Javed Siddiqui had gone to the city for a week to get a feel of the ambience. He stayed on for a month. The people making it weren’t faking it. In fact I’d say it takes tremendous courage to make a film that doesn’t sell India’s poverty to the world or go overboard with a fantasy treatment of Indian values.”