Playing strong women comes naturally to me, says Kajol

Be it Baazigar, Dushman, Gupt, Salaam Venky and now series The Trial, Kajol has a penchant for powerful female characters and the actor says portraying women who are not "weak and vulnerable" comes naturally to her.

In the upcoming Disney+ Hotstar show, the actor plays Noyonika Sengupta, a housewife who is forced to return to work as a lawyer after her husband’s public scandal puts him behind bars.

Directed by Suparn S Varma, The Trial - Pyaar, Kaanoon, Dhokha is the Indian adaptation of popular American series The Good Wife.

Kajol said her choices as an actor mirror her powerful off screen persona.

"To play a strong, powerful character is easier for me than to play a weak character. It is natural for me to be strong rather than to be vulnerable,” the actor said.

"The great thing about Noyonika is that she is a strong person but when a strong person is put in a situation, where they are weakened and vulnerable, that’s a tough thing to play. It was one of the reasons why I love her as a character,” she added.

The 48-year-old said she could relate to Noyonika's way of dealing with difficult situations.

"Suparn wanted me because she is a public figure and she is a mother of two kids; there are so many factors in her character. One thing I resonate a lot more with Noyonika is the core, she is an eminently practical woman.

"She will do what needs to be done, even if it hurts her sensibility, if she knows it needs to be done, she will do it for the good of the family. She will go ahead and do it because there’s nobody else to do it,” Kajol added.

As an actor, Kajol said she still finds it difficult to be coy in front of the camera.

"I struggle with it... I don’t know how to be shy. I don't know how to do ‘sharam’. I don’t understand the emotion,” she said, adding that one genre she wants to explore is comedy.

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