Meet the ‘mystery mistress’ of ‘Sahib Biwi aur Gangster’, who is making waves after the movie release with her bold sensuous scenes and her fatal screen-encounter with a ferocious trained dog
Audiences and the cine-trade critics seem to be impressed with the convincing performance of winsome actress Shreya Narayan who plays the coquettish ‘other woman’ with whom Jimmy ‘Sahib’ Shergill is besotted with in ‘Sahib Biwi aur Gangster’. What is rather intriguing is that Shreya was religiously shunted out of the entire pre-release media publicity leading gossip mills to speculate that it could be the ‘gehri chaal’ of the lead heroine Mahie Gill, to ensure that only she remains the prima donna of the show’. Optimistic by nature, the ‘chulbuli’ Shreya shrugs off the blanket ‘exclusion’ as part of the filmy game. Reacts Narayan, “Well, I guess, as the on-screen mistress ‘Mahua’, I am the ‘surprise package’ that leaves its lingering impact on the audiences with both the scenes as also the seductive sultry song picturised on me. Now that the movie is released, my work will speak for itself, ” insists the former drama-theatre actress who made her discreet debut in the maverick movie ‘Eik Dastak’, followed by fleeting roles in also-ran movies, besides episodes of Yashraj TV series. What made Shreya accept this second-lead vampish role which involved intimate and dare-bare scenes? “No, its not the role of a ‘slut’, but a sweet lover-girl. Because in the climax where I am eliminated, the audience will sympathise with my character and even ‘Sahib’ feels a traumatic remorse for having killed me. It’s a challenging complex role which is a heady cocktail of intensity, vulnerability, passion and sensuousness,” she chuckles as she maintains that she shared a cordial rapport with the entire cast of her movie including ‘biwi’ Mahie with whom she ironically shares just one passing shot.
Wasn’t it true that she was on panicky tenterhooks whilst shooting her portions with the ferocious Rottweiler dog which eventually ‘kills’ her in the movie ? Recalls Shreya, “That was quite a scary jittery affair, because I had to lie on the same bed, even as Jimmy sat away, handing me this fate. It seemed to be a case of sleeping-with-the-canine-enemy.