Geeta Basra: People are not going to the theatre to see a certain actor, they are spending money to see a good story

Actress Geeta Basra, whose last Hindi outing was Second Hand Husband (2015), is all set to make her comeback to Bollywood. Geeta, who got married to former cricketer Harbhajan Singh in 2015, and took a break from films soon thereafter to be with her family, will be returning to the industry with an upcoming legal dramdey film, alongside Parambrata Chatterjee. In an exclusive chat with us, Geeta, who is currently shooting in Bhopal, reveals the changes in the world of entertainment now and how she is balancing her professional and personal life.
‘THE INDUSTRY HAS CHANGED DRASTICALLY OVER THE YEARS’
While Geeta maintains it is still too early to reveal too much about the role she will be playing in the upcoming film, she explains how starkly different she finds the working of a film in the current age. “The industry has changed drastically in these 7 years. There is so much acceptance for a woman now. You don’t have to be a single person who is 16-17 to be good at movies. Even the character I’m playing in the film is transitional.” Adding more about the professionalism on the sets, she says, “Everything is well planned and on time. There are workshops and script readings before the film, which I had never heard of before! But it makes the bonding process better. All the movies I did before were like read the script and show up on the set to start shooting. Now there are workshops and script reading, which makes the actors more prepared going into the film.”
‘FILMS ARE NOT ABOUT THE STARS ANYMORE, BUT THE CONTENT’
Ask her if she feels the pressure of audience expectation for her comeback film, Geeta says she isn’t thinking much about it. “It is nice to have expectations about the response to my role, but more than anything I hope the audience enjoys the film. Because these days only content sells. Lately, we have seen many movies with big stars perform poorly at the Box Office. I feel this age is not about the stars, but the content. People want to watch good films, they are not going to the theatre to see a certain actor, they are spending money to see a good story or film,” she says.

‘I WANT MY KIDS TO KNOW THAT MOM HAS A JOB SHE HAS TO BE AT, YET SHE WILL BE AROUND WHEN THEY NEED HER’
For Geeta her family is certainly her top priority. At the same time she is happy to have come back to pursue her passion. She opens up about being away from her daughter for so long, after she was born. She says, "This is the first time in all these years ever since she was born that I haven’t been with her. There hadn’t been a day till now that I wasn’t around. But she’s such a mature and sensible girl, she is managing herself and having her bonding session with Papa back in Dubai. My son has travelled with me to Bhopal, but he stays at the hotel with my mom. I don’t get him on the set, because he is too young, not even 1 year old.”
Adding further about making this decision she says, “It is not easy as a mother to make such decisions, initially I used to be anxious about this. But it is important for kids to understand that their mom has to go for work, and she works for these many hours in different places, and they also know that mom is around also when they need her. Tomorrow, I want my kids to be independent and follow their career path, but with a healthy balance in family life. It is good for them to understand that a woman can go back to their passion, irrespective of being a wife, mother."