Yukta Mookhey was crowned Miss World in 1999 for her serenity and poise according to the judges of the world beauty Pageant. Following into the footsteps of her predecessors like Miss Universe Sushmita Sen and Miss World Aishwarya Rai and other Indian beauties, she entered into Bollywood with her debut film, 'Pyaasa', opposite Aftaab Shivdasani. She wasn't as lucky as her seniors, and couldn't succeed at the box office. Though down she wasn't out and has come back in a new avatar. Now, she has adorned a bold new look in her recent film 'Memsahab'. She plays a prostitute in this movie, though. Her own security men base 'Memsaab' on the '84 riots following the murder of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Consequent to riots between a section of Hindus and the Sikhs in Delhi and other parts of North India, several Sikh families were ruined. In 'Memsahab', Yukta who plays the character of Anjali, a victim of the riots, is pushed into prostitution. And a couple of villains have raped her mum, and shot her dad dead. What a horror! Though she takes revenge on the killers of her dad, she realizes that the violence wouldn't help her get back her victimized parents. Later, the wisdom prevails on her and she undergoes transformation. She changes quite a lot.
In this movie, Yukti proves her acting skill, too. During the first half, she is seen wearing 'lehenga-cholis' and battling with street goondas. Later, she gets into skinny skirts and picks up a gun, and goes after the bad guys. The story of 'Memsahab' goes into the byelanes of Kamathipura, where Yukta is one of the many women indulging in flesh trade. This woman has many 'Sahabs' as they change every night! Yukta admits that getting into the character of a prostitute was a bit tough and bold too but she portrayed it with honesty.
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"My homework was brilliant before the start of the movie." Before commencing the shooting she had asked her director if she could visit the red light areas to get first hand experience of the life of prostitutes. Besides, she had also watched 'Mandi', a movie made on prostitutes in which Shabana Aazmi had played the vital role. " I got inspiration from Shabana and also some valuable acting tips to get into my character." Some expected and unexpected incidents start happening until she stumbles upon the killers of her parents and starts hunting them one by one. But does taking revenge actually help her in erasing her traumatic memories of childhood? Would life start afresh and come to complete normalcy? Does revenge killing actually fulfill anything? 'Memsahab' is possibly the answer to many such questions. This is indeed a women-oriented movie with a social message of non-violence.
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Besides, Yukta Mookhey, the cast comprises Govind Namdeo and Vijay Raaz. The movie is directed by Arshad Siddiqui. Govind Namdev as Kashinath plays a negative role and the culprit of destroying the family of Anjali in 1984 riots. As she grows with fire of taking revenge, after 24 years meets Kashinath. By coincidence Kashinath is the father of the director (Rahul) for whom she acted in the movie and in due course fell in love with him. Rufee Khan plays the character of Rahul as the director of the movie. When she comes to know that Kashinath is Rahul's father she kills both of them. However, in the guilt she kills herself. What a transformation?
Wouldn't you like to watch it?
