The last time we saw Dhairya Karwa was as a Mumbai-based writer in Gehraiyaan (2022). His next, Apurva, largely set in Chambal, is a story that could scare the life out of any city dweller. Director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat’s survival drama follows Tara Sutaria’s titular character as she fights her male assailants after being abducted from a bus. Karwa plays her fiancé who sets out in search of her.

“The only way to survive such [intense] films is to take it a little less seriously. But the subject cannot be [taken lightly]. A film like this reflects generational conditioning,” says the actor.

Karwa is unfazed that the Disney+ Hotstar movie is centred on Sutaria and Abhishek Banerjee’s characters. To him, it was the messaging that mattered. “I knew it’s a great story. When you are starting out, it’s more important to establish the kind of stories that matter to you.”

In the past five years, the actor has featured in Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019) and 83 (2021). After Gehraiyaan, he says he has noticed a shift in opinions about him.

“I got some roles that needed me to shoulder more. I signed two big projects, but they didn’t work out the way [I] had hoped. There was a long gap since my last release because of this. I had to recalibrate [my choices] and that’s when Apurva came my way.”

He will also be seen in Gyaarah Gyaarah soon.