In awe of Giselle Monteiro

A Brazilian model who passed on as a typical 'Punjabi kudi' without anyone doubting her.
Guess how the audience must have reacted after knowing that she was not even an Indian leave aside being a Punjabi.

'Harleen' that I would rather call her had come to Imtiaz to originally audition for the role of Saif's Caucasian girlfriend in the second half of the film but rather landed the role of 'Harleen' on Imtiaz's wife's insistence.
Inspite of doubts raised by Saif about their pairing Imtiaz stood by his belief(I think that is the biggest trait of a good director,standing by
one's inner voice,letting creativity spin its own web) and the result is for all of us to see.

I feel some roles have the divine blessings of the Almighty.Some eternal examples that come
to my mind at once are of Dilip Kumar and Madhubala as Saleem and Anarkali in Mughal-E-Azam,those of Jai,Veeru and Gabbar immortalised by Amitabh, Dharmendra and Amjad respectively in Sholay,that of suave Michael Corleone played by Al Pacino in The Godfather series,more recently that of Munnabhai enacted effortlessly by Sanjay Dutt and many more.(I plan to right a separate blog on this in the near future).Though these actors in many cases were not the original choices for the characters they eventually essayed but I doubt that anybody else whatsoever may be the calibre ,could have done justice to the role as has been finally done. It may seem I am being immature showering unworthy praises for Giselle by comparing her to these all time great legends but my point is somthing else. I can't think of anybody else playing 'Harleen' as I can't think of anybody else potraying the above mentioned legendary charaters.

Coming back to Harleen,well her's was a perfect example of how actions speak louder than words.The way she depicted the coyness and grace that prevailed during the 60's be it in her posture while sitting in the
rickshaw,while falling in love with Saif's character,while dancing away in the wedding,her silent rebellion for being married off against her wishes demands serious critical appreciation.I am still puzzled about how did she manage to do all these without knowing a thing about the Indian culture before onboard the film and moreover with very few words.

Imtiaz rightly says,"The small town mentality in every part of the world is similar."I couldn't agree more.That must be the reason that led her to quickly grasp the nuances of her character better than any Indian actress would have.

For me,I seem to not have enough of 'Harleen' and am waiting with baited breath for her next outing.