Paoli Dam on portraying a de-glam look in ‘Halkaa’

Paoli Dam has taken the de-glam route to portray the role of a simple slum woman for Nila Madhab Panda’s ‘

Halkaa

’. It bears a strong social message promoting the

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

concept through a slum child Pichku who is on a mission to construct a toilet for himself.

Before she started shooting for ‘Halkaa’ Paoli used to visit the exact slum where the film has been shot in Delhi’s Pragati Maidan area to get a close look on how people live there, how they speak or dress-up. Paoli plays Pichku’s mother Sobha in the film. “My base had to be toned down and hair needed to look a bit rough. You won’t believe I couldn’t shampoo my hair until the shoot was over to adopt the required texture. My character Sobha works in an agarbatti (incense sticks) factory, so her complexion had to be set a little dark. Even I didn’t do eyebrows. To set the exact look my skin had to be dry and rough. So, I was not allowed to moisturize my skin. Also, I remained a little unkempt throughout the shoot. That’s why the look was natural,” revealed the actress.

Apart from Paoli, ‘Halkaa’ also stars Ranvir Shorey as Pichku’s father. The film is releasing today, September 07.