Urvashi Dholakia, Debina Bonnerjee, Varun Badola: TV actors pick the one film that influenced their taste in cinema

As celebs on Instagram take the challenge of posting 10 film stills — no poster, no title, no description — that influenced their taste in cinema, we ask TV actors about that one film in their lives

We’ve often seen Bollywood actors and filmmakers talk at length and with passion, about their favourite Hindi or English films. In fact, Instagram right now is buzzing with many celebs posting 10 film stills without describing them or even revealing the name of the movie, that impacted their taste in cinema. Taking a cue and adding a twist to this challenge, we bring you TV stars, as they reveal one such film that’s closest to their heart.

TV actor Urvashi Dholakia says that Yentle is one of those films that she can watch again and again.

Urvashi Dholakia: Yentle (1983)

The film is about how this girl was born in times where women weren’t allowed to study and how she disguises herself as a guy and goes off to study. But the fun part is that she falls in love with one of her classmates and the classmates’ fiancé falls in love with her. So, it’s quite interesting and a magnificent movie.

Tarun Khanna: Guide (1965)

The film’s story, I think, was ahead of its times and westernised. It gives us the message that Nature is God and God is Nature. It tells you how when one person decides and puts his mind into something, he or she can conquer the whole world. This is something I follow in my life, too.

Aparna Dixit: Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999)

I always observe acting skills, cinematography, plot, music everything in a film. And this Sanjay Leela Bhansali film made me fall in love with cinema all over again. From the story, songs to costumes everything was beautiful. One or two actors don’t make a film, everyone together delivers a wonderful experience, so it had that kind of an impact on me.

Varun Badola: Yeh Woh Manzil To Nahin (1986)

The narrative in this Sudhir Mishra film draws wonderful parallel between the past and present, something that happens with us often. It’s about these three friends getting nostalgic when a present incident of student politics takes them back to their earlier revolutionary days.

Sourabh Raaj Jain: Abhimaan (1973)

Everything about this Hrishikesh Mukherjee film is real, sensitive, human. From brilliant performances to beautiful music, everything touches the heart. It revolves around the man’s ego, hypocrisy, insecurities and how a relationship can take a toll because of all that and how when these things are corrected everything gets sorted.

Debina Bonnerjee: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

I watched this film as a child and it made me look and think so differently about the universe and what lies within and beyond it since the time I laid my eyes on it.

Sayantani Ghosh: Gone Girl (2014)

The entire movie highlights the greys in our lives, which are also real because everything isn’t just black and white. We’re always walking on the middle path. The cinematography, performances how from being the innocent girl Amy, actor Rosamund Pike becomes this manipulative person, was quite interesting.

Shantanu Maheshwari: West Side Story (1961)

After watching this film, I realised the thorough detailing and aspects that go into the little nuances of creating the storyline, characters, conceptualization, production etc. The film is a musical, and just the whole rhythm of how it is all portrayed really inspired me.

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