Original ‘Dhoom girl’ Esha Deol Takhtani on turning producer, her new venture

Esha Deol Takhtani, a star kid who believed in making her own
mark in Bollywood with her film choices, has some memorable films in her kitty,
including ‘Yuva’, ‘No Entry’ and ‘Dhoom’. Though some of her big-budget films
as an actor were multi-starrers with average box-office numbers, the
39-year-old certainly created a buzz with her depiction of the roles she
played.

The star is now a mother of two and owns her production house
called Bharat Esha Films through which she wants to back meaningful and
impactful cinema. Her first home production venture is ‘Ek Duaa’, which is also
her acting comeback, and has hit the OTT platform Voot Select today.

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Talking
about the role, the elder daughter of veteran actor-politician Hema Malini told
Opoyi, “When I heard the script of Ek Duaa it really touched me on a very
deep level especially being a mother and daughter myself. Also, I think by
making a film like this, it is just my humble contribution to such a wide
issue….I felt that just  being offered to do this film as an actor would
not have been enough for me because there is  more that I would want to
contribute to this and that’s why I created Bharat Esha Films and took this up
as  our first home production.”

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“All mothers empathise and understand in a very beautiful
way. I am a mother today and having played the role of Abida( her character in
the film), I had to get into her thought process and her emotional journey in
the film, which was something I felt that I would definitely do justice to
being a mother today also,” she added.

Esha has seen both success and failures at the
box office but what kept her going is her fearlessness to portray characters
that had a soul. So is there something that she has learnt as an actor and that
she has utilized as a producer now?

“I don’t know if I would like to utilize that as
a producer because my vision as a producer has nothing to do with me being an
actor in it. It’s more of me being a viewer and the kind of cinema I would want
to watch. Being the producer, I want to create and make films that have a
positive impact on the viewer’s mind.

“However, being an actor had a lot of changes
especially because when I started out, I was an 18-year-old teenager so my
choices were such then. Today you are talking to someone who is a mother.
Everyone over the years toughen up and wisen up. Our choices change over a
period of time, our interests change so that has definitely evolved in me and
as you see the project I am picking now. It’s much different than what I did
when I was in my 20s,” she said.

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Esha
says that “being a producer, you are much more responsible because you are not
going on set to just act and come back home.  I am also going on set to
make sure that I see everyone is getting what they want to do their job – from
actors, spot boys to other technicians. If they are happy and working together
as a family so It is a big responsibility,” she said.

 Finally,
how does it feel to be a working mother?

“We
(Women) are very good at multitasking and we can do at least four to five jobs
at one hand. Women are great at multitasking and yes it’s a support system that
we have in India in the form of the family that plays a big role when we decide
to step out and work.

“Also, it’s up to us how we portray it. We can portray to the
world that you know I am a working woman and I am stepping out and working or
yes I am a mother and I can also work. Mine would be the latter. There are so
many women like me and you who take up different professions, have babies, and
go and work as well. My mother did it when we were kids,” she said.