Headlining web shows Made In Heaven and Bard Of Blood, Sobhita Dhulipala discusses taking the unconventional route to Bollywood
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; September 27, 2019)

After Made In Heaven made her a bona fide star, critics and audience have been keenly watching the next move of Sobhita Dhulipala. To her credit, she hasn't disappointed. If her Malayalam film, Moothon, recently did the rounds of Toronto International Film Festival, her digital outing, Bard Of Blood — that drops online today — too has generated buzz. The espionage thriller sees her as Isha Khanna, an analyst in the Intelligence Wing. "Since I have never attempted this genre before, I was instantly attracted to the script," she begins.

Point out that she has earned a place in two of the biggest digital offerings of the year, and she says, "When I signed Made In Heaven, I had no idea about the web world. I signed it before the digital medium boomed. It's an edgy show, so we had no clue how it would be received. It was a creative gamble. Every project I have done, right from my first film Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016), has been a creative gamble."

The move has paid off — up next, Dhulipala will be seen in The Body, opposite Emraan Hashmi, and the anthology, Ghost Stories. Taking the unconventional route to Bollywood, however, did not happen by design. "In the beginning of your career, you are not spoilt for choice. You can only choose not to be part of something you don't believe in," she reasons.

If her choice of projects are uncharacteristic of Hindi cinema actors, she has Anurag Kashyap to thank. "Working with him was like character building. He moulded my understanding of cinema. Raman Raghav 2.0 opened at Cannes and my visit to the film festival changed my worldview."