EXCLUSIVE: Husne Shabnam on acting in Lust Stories 3 and coaching Alia Bhatt, Shabana Azmi in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani: "Alia is a superstar and a sweetheart"; reveals, "Though I was a dialect coach, I still had a vanity van for myself; I was STUNNED"

The recently released Lust Stories 3 has been appreciated, particularly its final segment, directed by Vishal Bhardwaj and starring Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth. The scenes featuring Aditi’s character interacting with her students have especially won hearts. One of the actors playing a student is Husne Shabnam, who has carved an interesting space for herself in the industry not just as an actor but also as a dialect coach. Husne worked as a dialect coach on Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023), acted in Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper and served as both an actor and dialect coach on Karisma Kapoor’s web series Brown. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Husne Shabnam opened up about working on Lust Stories 3, her journey as a dialect coach, collaborating with stars like Shabana Azmi and Alia Bhatt, and a lot more.

How has been the response to Lust Stories 3? The response has been great. I am getting messages from my Instagram followers and friends, telling me that they loved the portion where all six girls are together, especially their comic timing.

You have a lot of scenes with Aditi Rao Hydari. How was it shooting with her? Firstly, she is extremely beautiful! I have been a huge admirer of her my whole life. Moreover, Aditi and also Siddharth are absolutely fantastic human beings. They are very grounded. Initially, I was intimidated by the idea of working with them. But both were very cooperative. They were clear that we all have to come together and work unitedly, so that the film works as intended.

We used to call Aditi ‘Baji’! She used to hang out with us between the shots. She is a genuine sweetheart.

How did you start as a dialect coach? I am from Kolkata, where I used to mostly do theatre and acting. I also used to teach in American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) where I coached people in the Bengali language. I came to Mumbai in 2021 and I didn’t know anyone. Meanwhile, through AIIS, I learned about a dialect coach company called Strictly Speaking. They were looking for a dialect coach. I approached them; they interviewed me and through them, I bagged my first project in Mumbai as a dialect coach – Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. I coached Shabana Azmi ji, Alia Bhatt and Namit Das for that project. That’s how my journey started in Mumbai 5 years ago. As a result, people in Mumbai know me more as a dialect coach than an actor, though I have had 11 years of acting experience. Nevertheless, it helped me get to know people in Bollywood. You also get to see how talented actors prep for their roles. Moreover, it’s a good source of income as well (laughs).

 

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Often, Bengali, Gujarati or Parsi characters in our films are given heavy accents and portrayed in an over-the-top manner. It seems like you’re conscious of avoiding that while working as a dialect coach… Yes. I was particular that I didn’t want to overdo anything. It shouldn’t look like the character is forcefully speaking in an accent. Alia’s character in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani has never lived in Kolkata. Hence, you can’t expect a Bengali diction from a Bengali girl born and brought up in Delhi.

Meanwhile, Karisma ma’am in Brown is an Anglo-Indian woman. Again, she couldn’t have had a strong Bengali diction. Also, I have reservations with the depiction of Bengali characters in Hindi. Moreover, the briefs given by directors also prove to be helpful.

You also acted in Brown and you had a very cool look… (Smiles) There’s a story behind it. While working on Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, I gave the audition for Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper. At that time, I had long hair. I forgot about my audition and assumed that I was not going to get the part. During an off day on Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, the hairstylist suggested, ‘You have a good jawline. You should try a pixie’. I said, ‘Go ahead’ and thus got a new haircut.

 

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The day I returned to Mumbai, Casting Bay informed me that I have bagged the part. I told them ‘Maine baal kaat diye hai’! However, directors Puneet Krishna and Amrit Raj Gupta loved my look so much that they changed the look of my character. That’s how I got Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper.

Meanwhile, in Brown, I auditioned for the girl who gets murdered. But I didn’t get the part as they wanted the character to have long hair. However, thanks to my pixie hair, I was asked to play the role of the rockstar!

Coming back to Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, how was it working with Shabana Azmi and especially being a teacher to her? Yes, can you imagine (laughs)? When I learned that I am going to coach Alia, I was fine; I have been a fan of her. Then they told me that I have to coach Shabana ma’am. My first instinct was, ‘I don’t want to do this job. How can I teach Shabana? Are you kidding me?’!

The first day, I went to Shabana ji’s house, I was petrified. But she was very humble. She asked me, ‘Can you sing?’. I replied, ‘Yes’. She asked me to sing, which I did. She loved it and said, ‘Ok, you’re going to be my dialect coach’.

During the whole shoot, I was constantly with Shabana ji. It was my first project in Bollywood, that too made by Dharma Productions. So, you can imagine what I was going through. I had never seen this kind of setup in my life. In fact, I was stunned to see that though I was a dialect coach, I still had a vanity van for myself. I was not used to it and she helped me a lot in this period. She was my moral support. I genuinely love her and we are still connected.

 

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And what about Alia Bhatt? She’s a superstar and a sweetheart. She was very clear about what she wanted. She would tell me, ‘Husne, let’s discuss and then incorporate accordingly’.

I also ended up doing a cameo in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. It was not in the script and was improvised. While we were rehearsing, Shabana ji told Karan, ‘Husne is also an actor’. Hence, Karan agreed to cast me. I couldn’t believe my luck as I got a chance to be in a Dharma movie!

Was the ‘Khela Hobe’ dialogue of Alia Bhatt also improvised? Indeed. Karan sir asked me, ‘What’s going on with Mamata Banerjee Didi these days?’ She used to say, ‘Khela Hobe’. Karan sir knew about this slogan and suggested that we incorporate it into the film.

Also Read: Aditi Rao Hydari opens up about her emotional scene with Gajraj Rao in Lust Stories 3; says, “I find that very wonderful generally in life”

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