EXCLUSIVE | Yogita Bihani on 'The Kerala Story': 'The problem with our nation is we don't get justice on time'

Yogita Bihani is fresh off the blockbuster success of The Kerala Story that was in the news ever since it was announced last year. She played the character of Nimah, the only girl in her group that’s not brainwashed by the terrorist organization ISIS and takes a stand against the atrocity committed by them. In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, she opened up on the response she and the film have been receiving since the release, her monologue scene at the police station (arguably one of the most aching scenes in the film), and how these terrorists were able to brainwash as many as 32,000 girls in Kerala despite its literacy rate.

How have these many days looked for you?

She smiles, takes a breath, and says, ‘This has been something that I never expected, honestly. Every day there is a realization that oh, the film is reaching here, so many people are watching it, so many people are appreciating it, so many people are messaging me, you know. When you touch people’s lives, they really put that effort, especially if they know you. They have been trying to get in touch with me through friends, family, and messaging me on Instagram and that’s unreal.’

On the response to her performance

My monologue (laughs). The kind of messages that I’ve been receiving, I had tears in my eyes. I got a message that people were applauding my monologue; a friend told me she went to see the film and there was this one girl that started crying after my monologue scene. After that, there was complete silence since they felt it. Everybody is reacting to scene differently, but all I can say is that I have touched their heart. As an actor, I feel my job is done.

Were you aware of these horrific incidents that were happening against women in Kerala

No, I wasn’t.

Considering it has the highest literacy rate in India, for the terrorist organization ISIS to convincingly brainwash as many as 32,000 girls is appalling. Your take?

I never went with the number, for me it was always the story of these three women that we researched and portrayed. Since this is something that has happened to women globally and our film too that has released globally, it was very important that people see it and realize this can happen. Even if it is happening to one girl, two or three girls, it is very important for a subject like this to be touched upon.

Your character Nimah is the only girl out of the group that senses there’s something wrong in the way Asifa talks about religion, god to your friends, and yet she doesn’t speak up. As an actor, while reading the script, did you ask why.

With every seen, you understand your character more. Nimah was a Christian and a believer of god, she wasn’t a non-believer. But she was a liberal person, she never questioned Asifa on her religion nor she questioned Geetanjali or Shalini on their religion. For her, it was like ‘I believe in my God you believe in your God. Let people live the way they want.’ She never forced anyone to believe in something because her upbringing wasn’t like that. She’s a strong girl and she knew what was happening, she was smarter. I don’t know whether I’m supposed to say this or not but there was a scene where I go and speak to my friends and confront them but I think the scene was cut. She was trying to warn her friends in whatever ways as you can see, specially the scene in a flashback. My body language was very uptight every time the boys entered. This is how my character was; she was someone who would believe in her God, but she would never influence somebody. That made me enjoy the character even more because you’re not against something. She was against brainwashing. There’s a scene in the film when the boys enter into the room with the pizza and she just walks out. These girls were in that age where if I tried to explain something, they wouldn’t understand since they were in love; so she also made her own world. There was a guy who was trying to influence her but she was never into it.

Is NO the best way to break the bruised ego of these monsters?

For me, that scene was not just about that one word. They were all on drugs, so their mental state is not right. I don’t think anybody with the right mindset would do that. The breakdown happened because of the mental state, they are brainwashed, the brain is not working right.

On her monologue at the police station and the silence of the people in power

While I was preparing for that role, I was only thinking as Nimah. She’s a girl from college and she has just passed out and is going through all of this. As much as you want to be that character, you only have limited information; you get a scene, but you have to do your own research. My research was not about the numbers. What she knew was that this has happened to a girl and she’s fighting for her right. I was listening to the interviews of Malala, Mukhtar Mai and felt that we have to address this since this is wrong. She starts with this line- “Mera FIR likhne mein aapko itna time lag gaya. Justice kab dilayenge.” This is the problem with our nation, we don’t get justice on time. She was questioning a lot of problems overall.

On her takeaway from The Kerala Story

My character is a fighter. What she has gone through and going through is so hard and tough. What girls can observe from my character is that if you go through something bad in life, don’t look back and stand up for yourself. Never give up in life.

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