Mrunal Thakur: ‘A deal with God’ on 4-year Pooja Meri Jaan wait

Four years is a long time for any film to wait. For Mrunal Thakur, Pooja Meri Jaan was worth the wait: the ZEE5 film finally premiered on October 2, with Navjot Gulati directing and Huma Qureshi, Vikram Singh Chauhan and Vijay Raaz sharing the frame.

A film she refused to let go of

Mrunal shot the film nearly four years ago, right after Sita Ramam. She told India Today that it was “literally my baby” and that the love coming in now leaves her feeling only gratitude. The delay, she says, taught her something about timing.

“I’ve made a deal with God. Let things happen when they’re meant to happen,” she said.

The message got bigger with time

The delay hasn’t dulled the film’s relevance. Mrunal says the script was written around 2016-17, before the real-world cases that now dominate headlines. At the time, it was “purely just a movie”; today, its themes around consent and pressure feel immediate.

Some reactions have hit her hardest. She says young men have reached out to say they didn’t realise that pressuring a girl after she said no was wrong.

• The wait: filmed nearly four years ago; released October 2 on ZEE5.
• The cast: Mrunal Thakur, Huma Qureshi, Vikram Singh Chauhan and Vijay Raaz.
• The director: Navjot Gulati.
• The takeaway: a no means no, not “try harder.”

A different version of her on screen

Watching the film now, Mrunal sees an earlier, more vulnerable performer. She admits she might play a few scenes differently today, but says Navjot and Vikram convinced her the rawness was exactly what the character needed.

“Maybe I would have performed those scenes more effortlessly today, but perhaps I would also have been a little more restricted while playing that character,” she said. That rawness is now part of the film’s appeal.

On rumours and the “coffee with four people” problem

The film’s themes also mirror the scrutiny Mrunal says she lives with. She believes that when people can’t find fault with a woman’s present, they dig into her past. Even a solo coffee run can turn into speculation about dating four people who happen to leave at the same time.

Her way through it is family and humour. She jokes that her most committed current relationship is “one-sided” — with her sleep. If there were someone real, she says, she would say so.

For Bollywood fans, Pooja Meri Jaan is the rare film that feels both late and right on time. The conversation it starts is already moving beyond the screen, and Mrunal seems content to let the film find its audience slowly.

Source: India Today