“If any film that deserves a part two . . . it is Sarfarosh,” Sonali Bendre Indus Age exclusive interview

Following the massive success of the first season of Broken News, the series returns on ZEE5 Global with another captivating season, with Sonali Bendre once again stepping into her role as Amina Qureshi. Indus Age caught up with the star of the 90s for an exclusive candid chat. Read on.

By Nidhi Kumari
The digital platform today is like the next big thing; it is giving opportunities to act to so many actors, and it has kind of changed the narrative of storytelling. So how do you look at this new trend?
Oh, my God, it’s the best trend to have happened because with OTT, you can hear stories that probably would have never been told; you can hear stories, and you can see stories that would have probably maybe been a book somewhere, but it would have never gotten the viewership; it would have never gotten a place where it could be told and shown, which it is now, so I’m so grateful for this. It’s the best thing to have happened, especially for us who come from the 90s.
Your character Amina, she stood up for the ethics of journalism in part one of Broken News, so please tell our viewers what all she’s going to stand up for in the second season?
Amina is Amina. She stands up for her way of thinking and it’s her thought; it’s the ideology that she stands for and I think that is the beauty of Amina because it’s not easy.
There are so many times when there are choices in front of you and then you have to make tough choices. The beauty of season 2 is—Amina and Dipanker coming face to face for the first time in in this series.

The beauty of this season is also the amount of friction between Radha and Amina—what a lovely relationship they’ve had. The way this relationship blooms is so beautiful.

There are so many things to look forward to in in season 2.

Season 1 ends with Radha being in jail; season 2 starts with that and then what happens is what you get to see in season 2.

Let us know about your experience of working with Jaydeep in Broken News.

Oh, it was fantastic. He’s such an such amazing actor.

It never feels like he’s acting. It feels like he is that person, and he does it with such ease. He is a refined, super fine actor.

Because you’re playing a journalist in Broken News, so how do you look at the current landscape of Journalism today?

I think that’s what makes Broken News so amazing because Broken News is so relevant today.

It’s not bashing anybody; it just shows you what the reasons are; why it is what it is; why is the landscape the way it is; it shows you that it’s not like it’s so easy and you could have done it that way; it’s not. Choices are very hard and there are so many layers to things. Why does someone make the choice that they make and that landscape is explained in Broken News.

When my parents saw the season 1, there were so many things that they said like, “oh, my God, we didn’t know this is what happens behind the scenes in a newsroom.”

When we were talking about season 1, a lot of journalists came, saying, “oh, you’re going to do media bashing” and we were like, “no.”

If you see the series, you’ll understand and if you’ve seen season 1, you understand that there is no media bashing; it’s just analyzing why something is happening the way it’s happening.

Speaking about the different types and characters that you have done we see you very less on screen and as a ’90s kid, someone who’s been a fan of yours, we have this shikayat from you that we don’t see you very often, so what are the other projects we are going to see you in more and more?
I don’t know. I don’t know.

I’m waiting; but one thing I can promise you, it is very sweet of you to say this. I love this shikayat that you have.

I’m back to work and I’m really looking forward to working more.

It’s been a while since I did fiction, but Broken News has opened the floodgates and I’m really looking forward to doing more work.

There’s news about Sarfarosh 2 coming up, so if you’re not there, your fans will be disappointed. We hope to see you in the second part.
Write a petition to John and to Amir and I don’t know what’s happening with it.(laughs)

I think . . . if any film that deserves a part two . . . it is Sarfarosh. (smiles)