Be it ‘Baazigar’, ‘Dushman’, ‘Gupt’, ‘Salaam Venky’, and now series ‘The Trial’, Kajol has a penchant for powerful female characters, and the actress says portraying women who are not “weak and vulnerable” come naturally to her.
In the upcoming Disney+ Hotstar show, the actor plays Noyonika Sengupta, a housewife who is forced to return to work as a lawyer after her husband’s public scandal puts him behind bars.
Directed by Suparn S Varma, ‘The Trial – Pyaar, Kaanoon, Dhokha’ is the Indian adaptation of the popular American series ‘The Good Wife’. Kajol said her choices as an actor mirror her powerful off-screen persona.
“To play a strong, powerful character is easier for me than to play a weak character. It is natural for me to be strong rather than to be vulnerable,” she said.
“The great thing about Noyonika is that she is a strong person but when a strong person is put in a situation, where they are weakened and vulnerable, that’s a tough thing to play. It was one of the reasons why I love her as a character,” she added.
The 48-year-old said she could relate to Noyonika’s way of dealing with difficult situations.
“Suparn wanted me because she is a public figure and she is a mother of two kids; there are so many factors in her character. One thing I resonate a lot more with Noyonika is the core, she is an eminently practical woman. She will do what needs to be done, even if it hurts her sensibility, if she knows it needs to be done, she will do it for the good of the family. She will go ahead and do it because there’s nobody else to do it,” Kajol added.
The Trial, which premiered on Disney+ Hotstar on July 14, marked Kajol’s long-format debut. The actress said she received several offers for OTT series in the past, but nothing truly worked out until ‘The Trial’.
