Kajol’s upcoming film Helicopter Eela has her play an obssessive mother enrolling herself in her son’s class at college to protect him from unwanted influence. Going by the film's trailer, the two share a warm relationship in the film.
During an interview to promote the film, Kajol shared an interesting story behind the casting of Sen.
“Riddhi Sen also doesn’t know how he has come in. [Director] Pradeep Sarkar had worked with him in an advertisement. He showed me the ad. I said, 'theek hai [alright], he looks good'. I couldn’t understand the ad. But dada saw something extraordinary in him. I think dada had also seen his Bengali film Nagarkirtan. He said he is a very good actor and we should meet him.”
Interestingly, Sen had previously acted in Leela Yadav’s Parched (2016), produced by Kajol’s husband, actor Ajay Devgn. However, the actress did not recognize Sen when she met him. “Bechara [poor boy] came in front of me and said, ‘Ma’am maine Parched ki hai [Ma’am I have acted in parched].' I said, ‘Really? Kaun the? [What role did you play?],” she recalled.
Kajol further spoke about the unusual advise she gave him to curb his enthusiasm on the sets. “I told him, ‘Dekh, tu khush khandan se nahin aaya hua hai [Look, your character doesn't come from a happy family].' I told him think like you don’t have both parents and whatever is happening with you in your life, just forget it. Take neend ki goli [a sleeping pill] and come to work. I thought his enthusiasm level needed to be contained,” she said.
The actress is happy with how things turned out with Sen eventually. “He is brilliant. He is a very nice and well-brought up boy. He was superb on screen. We didn’t need to tell anything to him. It is fun to talk to him even off screen,” Kajol added.
Helicopter Eela is all set to be released on 12 October.