Exclusive: Kubbra Sait reveals why she had to shoot for Sacred Games' frontal nudity scene 7 times
Kubbra Sait, who plays Cuckoo in Sacred Games, has garnered a positive response for her endearing portrayal. But for the iconic scene, wherein Nawazuddin Siddiqui's character Ganesh Gaitonde finds out about her sexual identity, the actor had to shoot seven times. Read on to know why.
In Sacred Games, India's first-of-its-kind web series helmed by Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane, Kubbra Sait plays Cuckoo. The beauty of Cuckoo is not that she turns out to be a transgender woman or that she admires Bobby and imitates her in more ways than one or even that she has the entire Bombay on her fingertips, but it's the way the character has been written, portrayed and directed.
There's a certain charm and innocence to Kubbra as she takes on the bold character and emerges as a winner in the series. When asked if she was apprehensive about accepting the part, she says, “I was not apprehensive at all. After I went to the audition, they told me there's frontal nudity scene and when you see the show, you can see how beautifully it has been shot. How vulnerable it is. You can never go wrong when you have a great team to work with.”
For Kubbra, the character is not gender-specific but it's Cuckoo's personality traits that make her who she is. “It did not strike me that oh, this is a transgender or that I'll be typecast. For me, she was the diva. She is living her life to her tunes and standing tall for herself. In the 80s if someone could do that and know that she will have the entire Bombay on her fingertips, then she's done well for herself. That's the kind of pride I have in the character.”
Her chemistry with Nawazuddin Siddiqui's character Ganesh Gaitonde seems more real that one could imagine. In a particular scene where her sexual identity is revealed, her feeling of helplessness and yet accepting oneself is palpable. But what went on behind shooting the scene will further get you intrigued.
Kubbra shares, “Just before the scene, I had a very happy, very excited, very joyful Anurag Kashyap jumping in front of me. Ache se karege haan, acha scene haan, ache se. I was laughing then, but I had to cry in the scene. We got to the vanity, he asked me what I drink, I said wine and he said get her a glass of whiskey. So he poured me a glass of whiskey and start reading the lines.”
She elaborates, “Then I also start reading the lines, he takes the paper away and he says to me feel what I am saying. And the kind of emotion Anurag was reading the lines to me with, I was already at the helm of tears and at the one point, he said imagine you love someone so much but you can't have them. You want them but you know you can't have them. You don't know what do to with yourself. This love is so beautiful and strong but it's not going to last and when he said that, I just started tearing up. The minute he saw one tear in my eye, he said ab koi baat nahi karega and I am going to see her on set. He poured me another glass of whiskey, nobody spoke to me until I went on set.”
Kubbra then shares that it was her first day on the set and Kashyap made her do the scene seven times. “He made me do the scene 7 times- every time after the scene, he'd come to me and say I am making you do this so many times, sorry haan. Just one more time, ek aur baar, one more and I am going again, don't hate me, I know you hate me, don't hate me.”
“I would literally fall on the floor crying every time. He made me cry real-time 7 times. And when we finished the scene, I was still crying on the floor and he hugged me and said I love you so much and thank you for giving me this scene. I walked out of the room and everyone clapped, I didn't know it was so beautifully done.”
She also shares that while in Vikram Chandra's novel of the same name, the character of Cuckoo is only a cabaret dancer, it's Kashyap and the team of writers who breathed life into Cuckoo for the web series. “I remember I bought the book, the minute I saw Sacred Games, I bought the book and after that, I saw the character index and it did not have Cuckoo in it at all. So I immediately called Anurag and I said that the book doesn't have Cuckoo, so he said yes, it's not there. She's only mentioned as a cabaret dancer in the book but Anurag has breathed life into her. He and the writers made her the most lovable character and treated her with the utmost respect.”
Having made her acting debut in 2011 opposite Salman Khan in Ready, the actor is grateful for all the roles she's done and for the journey she's had. She, in fact, reveals that it's the first time in so many years that her mother said she felt pride. “Our mum has taken a lot of risks and bullets for us because we come from a small town. I come from a very small community called the Kutchi Memons, so to be able to break out of the traditional business models, it's our mom who stood up for us and said and I want my daughter to work, to have a career and to travel.”
She shares, “I remember when I got this role, I didn't ask her before doing it but the moment I signed up for this, I told ma you have taken a lot of bullets for us and worn a bulletproof jacket but this one is a bazooka, please build a bunker for yourself.”
Meanwhile, the series which is currently streaming on an OTT platform, stars Saif Ali Khan, Radhika Apte, Rajshree Deshpande, Neeraj Kabi, Pankaj Tripathi and Jitendra Joshi among others. The series has opened to superlative reviews on all fronts- acting, direction, cinematography, sound and production. Here's the trailer of the web series in case you missed out.
