Esha Gupta's cop act in Chakravyuh inspired by Kiran Bedi

In Prakash Jha’s Chakravyuh, Esha Gupta plays a IPS officer and admits that Kiran Bedi was her muse. The model-turned-actor, who makes her Bollywood debut this Friday in Jannat 2, says that Bedi is the only woman police officer she knows to have made it really big in a man’s world.

In Prakash Jha’s Chakravyuh, Esha Gupta plays a IPS officer and admits that Kiran Bedi was her muse. The model-turned-actor, who makes her Bollywood debut this Friday in Jannat 2, says that Bedi is the only woman police officer she knows to have made it really big in a man’s world.

“She’s a good friend of my mother, and when I was in Delhi, I got to meet her around three-four times,” says Esha, remembering Bedi turning up at their place to celebrate festivals like Teej dressed in red, with a matching ‘bindi’ and ‘chudis’ (bangles).”She looked very feminine, but at work she was the no-nonsense cop, like my character who is absolutely de-glam and doesn’t even wear lipstick. Another role model is my mother, who is one of the strongest women I know.”

Filmed in Bhopal, Chakravyuh is set against the backdrop of the Naxal movement that’s been sparking off plenty of headlines recently. Arjun Rampal also plays a cop, while Manoj Bajpai is a Naxalite and Abhay Deol’s character keeps changing shades. Esha admits she signed the film without even listening to the story.