Netflix hosted a roundtable, moderated by Rajeev Masand, to celebrate the range of projects that were featured on the streaming platform this year.
The panel featured Aranyak’s Raveena Tandon, Konkona Sensharma, who starred in the segment Geeli Pucchi from Ajeeb Daastaans (2021), Sanya Malhotra, who was part of both Pagglait (2021) and Meenakshi Sundareshwar (2021), Minnal Murali’s Tovino Thomas, Hasreen Dillruba’s Taapsee Pannu, and The White Tiger’s Adarsh Gourav.
They all spoke of their experiences making these projects during the pandemic and discussed how they prepared for each part. Masand asked Tovino about the method he employs to get into character while working on a particular movie, and Pannu and Malhotra both said they use the same tool on set.
Elaborating about the method he uses to get into character, Tovino said, “For me, the smell is associated with memories. When I was in the 10th standard and I got new books and new uniforms, I was reminded of the first day of kindergarten. So while I am shooting for a film, from day one I use one single perfume and when I use the same perfume it helps me as a reminder of the character's traits to do complete justice to it. For Minnal Murali, this perfume for me was Carolina Herrera’s Bad Boy and, coincidentally, the bottle looks like a lightning bolt, resembling the film."
Pannu added, “It is just to put you in the zone, I don't choose scents based on a character. It is just one perfume I use through one particular film, it is because the sense of smell takes you back in the zone of that character.”
Malhotra recalled her experiences while filming Pagglait and said, “I think it is the senses, I think my strongest sense is the smell. I think it gets me back to the character like for Pagglait I did the same. Even when I use a perfume that I have used in the past for a film, it takes me back to that character. This is even more helpful when you are shooting two films together as you can differentiate and it helps more with the characterization.”
Watch the full conversation below: