Kajal Aggarwal Plays Blind The Non-Filmy Way
Kajal Aggarwal who does films simultaneously in three languages is all set to return to Hindi cinema with Do Labzon Ki Kahani where she plays a blind career woman.
Refreshingly her character doesn’t spend her time batting her eyelashes and stumbling over furniture.A marked change from the way Indian actors specially women portray blind characters
Says Kajal, “Blind people have sharper sensory perception than those who can see. They may not be able to physically identify you. But they know their exact space because they value it more than the normal. To portray a blind person as a fumbler and stumbler is doing disservice to the whole community.”
Kajal researched on the blind, attended schools for the visibly impaired before attempting her part. “We were very clear on how we wanted my blind character to be played. She may be blind but she is not an unhappy suffering helpless victim. She is a woman in-charge of own life and not the least dependant on others for her existence. I loved that about my quality. I loved the fact that my character cannot see and yet she can enjoy her movies , her television, her ride in the bus.”
Kajal went to a blind school to learn abut how the blind get around their disability. “The principal of that school is visibility-impaired and yet goes about her life so normally. That’s how I wanted to play my character.”
What Kajal really appreciated about her character was her buoyant spirit. “Between Randeep Hooda and me, it’s my character who is sight impaired. But it’s his character which is unable to see things the way I can, to understand life and its vagaries.”
Kajal has been careful about picking her roles . “It doesn’t matter if I haven’t done a Hindi film since SpecialChabbis. The film and the character must inspire and motivate me. I’ve already done 46 films in Telugu,Tamil and Hindi. I don’t need to work just for the heck of it. As it is, I hardly get time to spend with my family. I am constantly in and out of Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai.”
The spirited sparkling actress says she has no time for a personal life. “At the moment I’m single, and not blissfully so. I’ve no choice in the matter.”
Kajal’s younger sister Nisha is happily married.
“Maybe , something awaits me in the future,” sighs Kajal.
