Goel plays Phool, who unwittingly ends up getting ‘swapped’ with Jaya (Ranta) because both are new brides, rendered anonymous by their wedding veils. Connecting the two women is the hapless Deepak (Shrivastav), who is married to Phool but finds Jaya under the bridal veil when they come home from the wedding. Add to this the morally ambiguous and pan-munching cop, Inspector Manohar (Ravi Kishan) and the steely Manju Maai (Chhaya Kadam), who is the mother figure for a rag-tag bunch of survivors, and you have an ensemble that wins you over in no time.
For the three young actors, getting to work with Rao and sharing space with veteran actors like Ravi Kishan felt like a dream. In conversation with Film Companion, all three said it felt like everything till now had led them to Laapataa Ladies and that their roles felt like they were written for them.
Here are edited excerpts from the interview:
Sparsh Shrivastav, from Jamtara – Sabka Number Ayega to Laapataa Ladies
SS: You won’t believe it, but Aamir Khan sir watched Jamtara — perhaps he was free due to the lockdown. He spotted me in that show, and he texted me saying, “Hi, this is Aamir Khan. I loved your work. If you are free I would like to talk to you.” I thought it was a scam — how would Aamir Khan have my number? Just to confirm, I sent him a photo of Aamir Khan, and said, “Are you this Aamir Khan?” He said yes. I said, “Main nahi maanta, voice note bhejo (I don’t believe you, send a voice note.)” He said, “If you are free, let me video call you.” I was certain someone was pranking me so I put my finger on the camera lens before picking up the call. I’m not one to be star-struck but I got so nervous.