It’s a year of firsts for Gulshan Devaiah. After making his Kannada film debut with Kantara: A Legend Chapter – 1, the actor is now foraying into the Tamil industry with Legacy. The Netflix series unites him with R Madhavan. “I felt weak in the knees every time I saw him,” quips Devaiah, referring to the actor’s aged look in the crime drama.

“He plays my father-in-law. There was something magnetic about that look. All the girls [on the set] were going gaga over him, and I said, ‘You have to go over my dead body. I’m getting to him first’,” he laughs.

Even as Kantara: A Legend Chapter – 1 has opened up opportunities for Devaiah, he doesn’t want to be impulsive in signing his next.

“The challenge is to see where I put my next step. The offers will keep coming; they did earlier too — from Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, some even from Malayalam and Bengali cinema.”

And there’s Hindi cinema, of course. His next Hindi project will be the second season of Dahaad (2023). Ask the actor for an update on the acclaimed series, and he teases, “I haven’t finished reading the script. I have it in my inbox.”

Enough of embracing dark and intense characters — be it in Darlings (2022), Jaane Jaan (2023), or Dahaad (2023). Now, Vijay Varma is in the mood for love. The actor attempts his first love story with director Vibhu Puri’s Gustaakh Ishq, opposite Fatima Sana Shaikh. To the audience, his switch from brooding characters to a lover boy may seem like an aberration. But to Varma, it feels natural.

“I wasn’t surprised that Vibhu offered me this part. I came from a stage background, the memories [of being part of romantic dramas] are living within me. When the announcement happened, it looked like an anti-casting because Mirzapur, Dahaad, and Darlings came back-to-back and [gave me] the intense tag. That tag won’t be dropped even with this film,” he says.

Gustaakh Ishq isn’t the first romantic script to have been offered to the actor. A lot of nos were said before he lost his heart to the period love story. “Many romantic films came to me all these years, but I didn’t see myself in them. I don’t want to dance a lot in movies. I don’t want to sing and dance because they are not my forte. So, I needed to pick the script that works for me.” 

There was another reason to say yes to the movie — Naseeruddin Shah. Varma starred with the veteran actor in IC 814 (2024), but they didn’t share screen space. To finally face the camera with Shah is a moment of pride in Varma’s 17-year career. “He was my teacher [at Film and Television Institute of India]. I have worked backstage in his theatre productions. Ever since I came to Mumbai, I haven’t missed a single play that he has done. I’ve idolized him. I feel like patting my own back because as a boy in Hyderabad, I wished to meet him. And here I spent two months with him in the winter of Amritsar, enjoying delicacies together,” he marvels.

Starring in a romantic drama? Check. Sharing screen space with your hero? Check. Does Varma have any more wishes? “I have to do a comedy, not because I want to break an image, but because I want to do every kind of film. It’s just a matter of time with the right script,” he smiles.

A Sanjay Leela Bhansali heroine—that’s a tag Sonakshi Sinha admits she had been waiting for long. Now that it has come true, it has brought an outpouring of love. The actor is winning praise for her double roles as Rehana and Fareedan in Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar.

“My mom [Poonam Sinha] was overwhelmed with pride. For her, it was a dream come true to see me finally become a Sanjay Leela Bhansali heroine,” she smiles.

Right now, she is soaking in the love, but it will be work calling soon. Sinha, who was shooting for a yet-untitled thriller helmed by debutant director Karan Rawal last month, will return to the set next week. “Contemporary, dark and grungy”, the thriller is worlds apart from Bhansali’s dazzling period drama.

“It has been my conscious effort to choose work that people will be surprised to see me doing. It’s too early to talk about my role; all I can say is it’s an edgy and grungy story.”

It’s easy to see a shift in Sinha’s choice of work. She may have spent the early years of her career romancing the hero in masala films—from Dabangg (2010) to Rowdy Rathore (2012) and Action Jackson (2014)—but now, she is done playing second-fiddle.

“It was a conscious decision I took after Akira [2016]. It was liberating to shoulder a film, and it’s the path I have taken after that. Today, I’m getting author-backed roles, whether it’s Dahaad [2023], Double XL [2022] or Heeramandi.”

Leading female-centric subjects in an industry full of potboilers would mean fighting her way in a man’s world. “I had my own challenging journey as there is a pressure to choose commercial entertainers. But I took the step at the right time in my career. The mainstream films I did before gave me the power to branch out on my own and do what I really wanted.”

And what does she really want now? Antagonist roles, especially after she played the crafty mother and vengeful daughter in the Netflix series.

“I love playing dark characters because they are so different from what I’ve been doing. It’s nice to break away from positive roles and do the complete opposite. How long can you play the good daughter, good wife or sweet girlfriend? It’s good to be bad sometimes,” she grins.

Sonakshi Sinha is very excited to team up with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the director who she has been waiting to work with. As she spoke about their upcoming OTT show and her dream collaboration, Heeramandi, Sonakshi also looked back at her journey in showbiz while talking at FICCI Frames 2024 in Mumbai.

She said, "I’ve grown and learnt through experiences. I’ve started from scratch, I had no experience of being on a film set. I used to not visit my dad’s sets when I was a child. I had no training in acting or dancing. I was not groomed for it. I was thrown into the deep end of the pool and told to, ‘swim’, so that’s how I learnt things. So, every experience for me was something that I cherish because I learnt a lot from every person I worked with."

The actor thanks the director for showing conviction in her. She shares, "It has got me to the point where Sanjay Leela Bhansali has confidence in me to offer me a role like Fareedan, who is very complex."

While she got great opportunities to play strong female characters on screen, she doens't dismiss the films which were male dominated.

She shares, "I’ve been working for 14 years and I’ve done all sorts of roles. I started off with commercial masala films, where it was always about the hero, which I’m not complaining about as it gave me an audience and wide reach. It gave me the confidence then I was able to shoulder films on my own and that’s when I started playing strong women characters, which were different from the other, like Akira or Noor or Khandaani Shafakhana or Dahaad, I consciously choose roles that I’ve not played before that pushed and challenged me as an actor. So, when sir came to me with this, I was like, ‘Thank you for imagining me like this’ because it’s such an honour for an actor when a director envisions you in a way that nobody has even thought of you as, that’s what every actor craves for."

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Gulshan Devaiah finds himself in a comfortable position. And being the practical person that he is, he isn’t just referring to Dahaad and Guns & Gulaabs being received well.

“I limit my avenues as an actor. A lot of my contemporaries monetize their fame, which I am uncomfortable doing. As a child, I never imagined doing all this. I am trying to stay true to that image and purity. My main hustle is my career and 2023 was a good time. Financial security is important to everybody; it frees your mind. I have no liabilities or loans. I don’t owe people anything,” he smiles.

The actor feels that when a project does well, it benefits everyone involved in the project and that applies to an OTT project too. “When things are perceived as successful, it trickles down to all the people involved. The perception improves, more opportunities are created. It improves access to more things. I don’t think it’s equivalent to a Rs. 1,000 crore film, but when you have a successful film at the box office, it impacts your career, too. I am happy that I did a variety of projects,” says Devaiah, who also had a theatrical release 8 A.M. Metro this year.

While it couldn’t get enough screens, the actor remains unperturbed. “I am so thankful that the film got a theatrical release. I feel it’s very brave of the producers to decide that they will release a film on the big screen in these times. I got some wonderful comments from the viewers who watched it,” he ends.

Minutes after charming the crowd at Netaji Indoor Stadium, Sonakshi Sinha spoke to CT about that precious feeling of being financially independent, the love she received for Dahaad and more. Excerpts.

"I share a special connection with Kolkata. I was born when my father (Shatrughan Sinha) was shooting for Goutam Ghose’s Antarjali Jatra here. I’d also received the maximum amount of love for Lootera, where I played the role of a Bengali girl"

Well I haven’t moved out completely, I still live with my parents. As they say, there is no place like home, and Ramayan, where I’ve lived with my parents all my life, will always be my home. But the new house is where I have my meetings, do some of my shoots and chill. So it is more of an office space kind of a situation right now. But yes, it brings with it a certain sense of achievement because I have always dreamt of having my own house.

I think it’s extremely important. Financial independence means you are totally and completely in charge of your life, especially if you are a woman. Earlier things were different, as women were more dependent on the male counterparts in their family. But today, women are achieving that financial freedom, their independent goals. I always say that you’ve to make yourself so strong that you don’t have to depend on anyone for anything.

I think this whole change in the kind of content is due to the change in audiences in general post pandemic. You can’t blame anything else. People will still go to theatres if the content is good. Yes, a lot of the women-driven stories have shifted to OTT, but who’s to say it can’t shift back?

I believe I’ve always done the right thing. With Akira I tasted blood! Having the complete responsibility of a film on your shoulder makes you feel like a hero. How can I go back? How can I do a film where I am just a part of the story? I want the story to revolve around me! I’m happy with the way things have gone for me. There has to be a really strong pull factor (to draw audiences to theatres). A good story and great performances can still hold their own if the word-of-mouth is good

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For many, Vijay Varma and Tamannaah Bhatia’s relationship came as a pleasant surprise. Reason? The two actors gained popularity for very different kinds of cinema, and onlookers wondered how the two of them, belonging to different schools of cinema, found a common ground.

Tamannaah is largely known for her glamorous commercial potboilers in Bollywood and South films, while in recent times, Vijay made his mark through edgy characters and unconventional stories.

Recently at an event, talking about the same, Vijay said, “I feel I have a lot to learn from her, and there are so many things that I know that she understands, which perhaps makes her look at things differently. That makes this equation interesting.”

Vijay said, “It’s so shocking and new for people to see these two very different worlds coming together, but between the two of us, we are very similar as people. Our values and beliefs are the same, and that’s what matters the most.”

When asked whether they discuss films when they spend time together, Vijay said, “We both are very hard-working actors and when you approach each role with vigour, you end up celebrating things together. It’s a good feeling to have somebody who you can share that joy with.”

Vijay, who has stunned the audience with his recent performances and has won a huge fan following for his work, said that he is confident of his abilities but has a long way to go. “I don’t feel that I have arrived yet, but I know that I have worked really hard and had a long journey to get to where I am today. So, I am exactly where I am supposed to be and it’s a good feeling. I am in the middle of my journey, and I have miles to go and much more to achieve, so it’s an ongoing process and I am enjoying it. Along the way, I met some incredible people, filmmakers and actors, whom I could collaborate with. It’s been an honour to be a part of stories like Darlings and Dahaad,” he signed off.

In the big screen vs OTT debate, Gulshan Devaiah isn’t taking sides. While he believes OTT offers more opportunities, there’s no substitute for the cinematic experience, he adds. In a freewheeling chat, the Dahaad actor talks about everything from the business of cinema to having civil discussions on social media. Excerpts:

I love cinema and it will make me very sad if the cinematic experience is lost and is not valued anymore. I am happy that I am doing interesting work and the web series format is very liberating for storytellers – the business model is also different as you don’t have the same pressure and it is more liberating to tell long-format stories – which means more interesting work, more money, opportunities. But if this is going to be at the cost of cinema, that will make me very sad.

I have a wider reach on OTT, I have better opportunities. But sometimes achieving difficult things can be extremely satisfying. If I am able to have a blockbuster when nobody expects it, what do you think is going to happen to my career? What do you think would have happened if Hunterrr would have made Rs. 100 crores? I know it’s a slim chance but there is nothing wrong in trying. I’m not losing anything. I have a career anyway.

Many people do not realise that Andaz Apna Apna did not make any money and they don’t care, it is a film that is fondly remembered. Dil Chahta Hai was not really a financially successful film, but people have strong memories attached to that film, its music. Agneepath was a massive flop, but nobody remembers it as a flop because people don’t care. They loved these films. We have lost that feeling – ‘ mazaa aaya yaar yeh dekh ke’. We have lost that touch with cinema, which is becoming more about numbers.

If I have genuine interest in the story and in the part, then I will do the film. Like in Badhaai Do, it was a six-minute part, it was nine pages worth of scenes for me. The director, Harshavardhan Kulkarni, is a friend, I am his supporter, and the role made complete sense to me when I read it. It was a small part but it was well written, it impacted the story, and I got to romance Rajkummar Rao. It is always the role and the story that matters most when I am selecting a film.

I have primarily done mid and small-budget cinema, like CandyFlip and 8 A.M. Metro. Barring Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela, most of my films were mid-budget. Small and mid-budget films are the ones that can take risks in terms of storytelling, they can try something new. I have been a part of many small-budget films because those scripts were interesting to me. They were more interesting than big-budget films or the roles that were being offered to me.

Small and mid-budget films face bigger challenges right now in terms of business. The theatrical business model is cut-throat. Some kind of reform is needed there. With very little guarantee of return on investment, it is a gamble. Sometimes you have a good film or product, but if you don’t market it well, it doesn’t work. And if you don’t get good show timings, people may like it but won’t be able to watch it. It is very pressurizing. It’s much more difficult now that everybody has started discussing figures. Even cinemagoers who really don’t understand anything about business, they are talking about opening kitne ki lagi thi, and then they decide whether that film is good or bad. Whether they want to watch a film or not is based on whether other people are watching it. That was never the case before.

There are people like Rajkummar, Manoj ji, whom I respect and I have learnt a lot from them. They give me and everybody else hope. They are not proper movie stars, I could say they are stars – people love their characters. Even when they (the audience) talk to me, they refer to Mandar Ponkshe (from Hunterrr) or Devi Lal (from Dahaad) – all characters, right? On the other hand, I have seen grown men at an airport react to Rajinikanth – it’s like they have seen God. They fall, they start to shake and shiver. They love him and not his characters. People love Shah Rukh Khan and not his characters. They love Salman and not his characters. You can not compete with that, no matter how brilliant your performances are.

In 2020, when I tweeted that “Bollywood is not a family, it never was and never will be”, the point I was trying to make is that it’s a place of work. I think some people misinterpreted that as yahan pe koi dost nahi hai. I think it helps if you change your perspective. If you don’t have expectations of it being your family, then you are able to navigate your way around it in a much better way – you don’t expect people to be your friend or family because it is a place of work. You can have wonderful colleagues with whom you get along and develop friendships and deep bonds, but that’s not the expectation that most people have when they go to work. This whole romanticization of one big family – if we don’t do that, it will probably help us have a perspective that is a bit better for our mental health.

Arts is usually filled with subjective opinions, and the sooner you accept that it is subjective I think the better you will be able to deal with failures and disappointments. Back then (in 2020), I also saw that our angst is being harnessed by others for their personal benefit. I had an issue with it, I was like my angst is my angst, you are not benefitting from it!

I got a call that a popular news anchor wants you on the show, I was like I don’t want to be on television. I am what they called an outsider, who has an okay career, who has done alright for himself but is not a massive star. So they thought maybe I would have some grudge, maybe I do, but then I will deal with it.

I refused to believe that social media is a place where you cannot have a civil conversation. I’m very fortunate that most people engage with me constructively. I get trolled sometimes, but it’s okay. I have a thick skin for such things. Not all of us will take our freedom of speech responsibly. Some of us will be irresponsible with it. I don’t want to say anything on social media that I wouldn’t say in real life. And I would not say anything to you all that I wouldn’t put on social media.

We have been taught that if you brush your teeth, you won’t get cavities, but nobody taught us what we should do to keep our minds healthy,” points out Ira Khan, as she gives us a tour of her community centre located at a quaint bungalow in Bandra. The 25-year-old, who is Aamir Khan and Reena Dutta’s daughter, talks to us about her personal battle with mental health and how she wants to champion this cause for the rest of her life.

Sharing how it all began she says, “While growing up, my mind decided that to be loved, I need to be a slightly broken person. I made this perception by watching a lot of movies. I remember being as young as 8 or 10 years old and telling myself to fake a smile to repress my feelings, so that I grew up being slightly broken, because I believed that only then people will love me. So, I systematically made sure that I turned out to be a depressed person.”

Ira has a history of battling mental health issues and has been vocal about it. She has been undergoing treatment for cyclic depression, “Depression is a little complicated. It is partly genetic, partly psychological, and social. In my case, it is partly genetic. There is a history of mental health issues in my family on my mom and dad’s side,” says Ira.

“My therapist said that one of the trigger points was my parents, who handled their divorce as well as they could at that point. It was amicable. I am not blaming them, but what they didn’t realise is that because they made it seem like divorce was not a big deal, there was a perception my mind created of the situation. We create perceptions and we don’t necessarily communicate to people about those. So, I blame myself for my depression. I spent 20 years thinking that you have to be sad for people to love you. But now how do I go back? I want to be happy! So now, I have to systematically undo everything that I have done,” says Ira.

Talking about her support system, Ira says, “I reach out to both my parents for help. I also turn to Kiran (Rao) aunty. In fact, I have made a phone chat group with all three of them. And when it comes to Popeye (fiancé Nupur Shikhare), he has the emotional bandwidth to spend time with me. Being there for someone takes time and energy. It takes a certain level of commitment. So, I feel very lucky to have someone like him in my life, who wanted to invest in trying to understand what I was going through.”

Before she turned her focus to her foundation Agatsu that helps people battling mental health issues, Ira had a tryst with showbiz. She was an AD on Sonakshi Sinha-starrer web show Dahaad. But she’s not interested in pursuing a career in the movies. “Agatsu (which means self-victory) is my full-time job. At the centre, we have a neuroscience workshop, mental health hour, youth peer meet, dance classes, games evening & other activities spread across the week for people to de-stress and engage in. I am not doing anything else, but this for the rest of my life. I truly appreciate storytelling through films, but there are a lot of other people who can do that, I don’t have to do it!”

She adds, "Why should one wait till he/she absolutely cannot bear it (mental stress) any more and then ask for help? Why can’t one just fix it when it is even a little bit problematic? Self-awareness, communication, resilience is important, and if everything else fails where you can’t take therapy, or you can’t take medication, then human connections work."

Ira got engaged to her trainer of many years, Nupur Shikhare (who she lovingly calls Popeye) last November. Talking about their marriage plans, she says, “We know that we want to get married on January 3, but which year... we haven’t decided on that (laughs!). January 3 is very special for us as that’s the date when we first kissed.”

When Vijay Varma says he found the script of Kaalkoot “unputdownable,” it carries weight. After all, here is an actor who seems to be attracting powerful stories—be it Darlings (2022) or Dahaad. But he had another reason to gravitate towards director Sumit Saxena’s crime drama. It has him portray a positive character after a spate of negative roles.

“Playing an idealistic, wide-eyed police officer like Ravi Shankar [his character in Kaalkoot] was a refreshing homecoming. In 2013, I started my journey as an actor by playing a police officer in Monsoon Shootout, and now after 10 years, I’m playing a similar role again,” he says.

The Jio Cinema series, also starring Shweta Tripathi Sharma, revolves around Varma’s cop who initially seems unfit for the job, but throws himself into it when a case hits too close to home. “He steadily understands himself through his work. I have been part of some good dramas, but Kaalkoot was unputdownable. It starts with an acid attack case, and then, over eight episodes, delves into how other characters are involved in such attacks.”

Varma is known to dive deep into research and prep for his roles, and it was no different for Kaalkoot. Since the story is set in Prayagraj, he worked with a diction and voice coach to perfect the accent.

“The bigger challenge was to find the naiveté of an inexperienced idealist. To be naïve is tough for so-called thinking actors. In Kaalkoot, it was my personal pursuit to act dumb.”

Barring the upcoming series, playing complex and troubled characters has become the actor’s calling card. Surely, such characters must not be easy to shake off after the shoot. Varma has a simple “detox” process.

“When a character gets to me, I go and talk to my mother. I step out of my character and become her son again. That’s the best form of love any actor can have to become themselves again. The talk brings me back to reality.”

So, will he show the crime drama to his mother? “It has been a while since I have asked my family to watch anything as I play dark characters. But I’ll ask my mother to watch this because I’m playing a nice guy after a long time,” he laughs.

Vijay Varma is on a hot streak. In only a year, the actor shone bright in Darlings (2022), Dahaad and now Lust Stories 2. “I feel on top of the world,” he smiles, when we sit down to chat with him. The actor made waves this summer with his intense depiction of a serial killer in the widely acclaimed Dahaad, following it up with the Netflix anthology that dropped this weekend.

Tell him he has come a long way since his breakout turn in Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy (2019), and he reflects, “There is so much content coming out every week, across languages. When everyone stops to look at my show, it’s amazing. I finally feel seen. It feels like I’m moving in the right direction. While these may seem like dangerous stories, I want to continue doing them.”

Unheard stories excite him. Varma’s second criterion is directors. He admits his good work is the result of finding like-minded filmmakers. “I’d rather be a log of wood in a good director’s film than be the lead in a movie made by a filmmaker I don’t admire. I am glad Sujoy Ghosh thought of me for The Devotion Of Suspect X and Lust Stories 2. He is teaching me so much, including Bangla,” he laughs. 

While their segment in Lust Stories 2 received mixed reviews, the actor stands by the storytelling. “A short film is challenging because a lot of it is on paper, but there’s time constraint. It’s an actor’s job to internalize the character.”

Over the past year, there has been intense scrutiny on OTT content. As an actor who gravitates towards risky stories, does he find himself curtailing his choices? “I’ve shot stuff that sometimes doesn’t make it to the edit because the maker feels it doesn’t serve his story. Filmmakers know what can or cannot get them in trouble. Actors surrender to the script and the makers’ vision. Censorship is not always from the outside; makers have their own moral compass. I’m working with some of the finest directors in the country, and they are far more intelligent in handling censorship than actors.”

We can’t end the chat without asking him for an update on The Devotion Of Suspect X, which sees him alongside Kareena Kapoor Khan and Jaideep Ahlawat. Varma teases us, saying, “Uska dhamaka jaldi aayega.”

It’s been over two decades since actor Kamya Panjabi stepped into the television industry and she is quite content with the medium. At a time when more actors are foraying into the OTT space, Panjabi is happy where she is. “I love TV more and that’s my priority,” she affirms. “I feel an actor is an actor irrespective of the medium. Many big actors come to promote their web series on TV shows,” asserts the Sanjog actor, in reaction to actor Eijaz Khan’s comment on TV actors finding it difficult to break into the web space and facing bias at the hands of casting directors.

Panjabi raises a question on the web film and show makers’ casting and selection process. “Why are they casting actors who don’t know how to act?” she opines, asserting that the mindset of only “big names would work on the web” needs to change.

Speaking about actors sitting at home while trying to get rid of the TV actor tag, the 43-year-old clarifies, “If you ask me to quit TV, sit at home for a year and then start afresh (for an OTT project)... I will never do that.” She emphasizes that actors should not bow down to the pressure of trying different mediums.

Citing example of a recent series, without revealing any names, Panjabi asserts that many actors need to learn the craft well. It seems like she took a dig at actor Sonakshi Sinha in her web debut Dahaad. “I saw a web show where the daughter of a big actor made her debut. Mujhse ek episode se zyada hazam nahin hua because unko bilkul acting nahin aati. But what can one do... Daughter of a veteran is doing the web show,” she states.

Vijay Varma is seamlessly marking his territory by playing the villain, but not just any villain. He played Anand Swarnakar, a psychopath serial killer, in Dahaad — his latest web show that also starred actors Sonakshi Sinha and Gulshan Devaiah. “I am over the moon,” says the actor, about all the love and adulation coming his way.

Last year, he caught the audience’s attention as the vile husband physically and emotionally abusing his wife in Darlings. In a candid conversation, the actor shares insights into his approach when it comes to playing such complex roles.

Does the 37-year-old not fear getting stereotyped for playing twisted characters one after another? “I wouldn’t be surprised if I got typecast. But I’m not worried because I have enough in my arsenal to kind of change that [image]. For now, I am enjoying being deliciously evil.”

Ask him about the prep that goes into portraying such challenging parts, and Varma shares, “The exterior of the personality is fairly easy to understand, but there’s so much happening in your head. Some of the actions, you just don’t understand why anybody would do this. So, it took me some time to understand that aspect.”

He adds, “I had a love-hate relationship playing this part (in Dahaad) because I loved the idea of being this mysterious serial killer, but I hated the effects of it.”

Does playing repugnant characters play with his mind? “They impact me [a bit], but not to the extent that they would take a toll on my mental health. I enjoyed the effects that they create in the audience’s minds,” says the actor, who will next be seen in the OTT project The Devotion Of Suspect X alongside actor Kareena Kapoor Khan.

The actor, who visited Cannes this year, last visited the film festival 10 years ago, for Monsoon Shootout: “Earlier, I was a wide-eyed, optimistic and idealistic young actor at the festival. I was like a child in a candy store. And then, life happened. It took years for me to find an audience for my work and for any kind of success to happen. So, visiting Cannes this year was like life coming full circle; it was a reunion where I met my younger self.”  

Varma has been a part of crime thrillers such as She and Mirzapur: “Crime has always been a fascinating genre; I feel, as a species, we are obsessed with watching violence or crime, maybe because it constantly exists around us in some form or the other. Having said that, we definitely need more comedies and that too, with intelligent humour.”

The non-stop praise for her web debut, Dahaad, plus ‘adulting’ with a brand new sea-facing abode — Sonakshi Sinha, it seems, is riding high! The actor, who turns 36 today, gushes, “It’s been incredible, so overwhelming. People who have not spoken to me in years are messaging me; those I don’t know from the industry have reached out. I was in a restaurant when people walked up to me — not for a photograph, but just to say they loved me in Dahaad. I don’t know how to deal with this right now!”

Sinha says this is exactly how she felt when Dabangg, her big- screen debut, released in 2010. “I feel like I have made my debut all over again,” she says and continues, “The last time I was appreciated like this was a long time ago — for Lootera in 2013, then Akira (2016), and even for Kalank (2019), but not on this level.”

Show director Reema Kagti had said in a recent interview that she has always found Sinha to be a “good but underused actor”. Has the artiste herself felt the same over the years? “Sometimes, but not all the time. I am glad people like Reema and Zoya Akhtar (filmmakers and co-creators of the show) have taken note of that and actually given me a character to justify my abilities (as an actor),” ends Sinha, who will next be seen in filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi.

What does Reema Kagti seek from her projects? Not necessarily the audience’s validation. All she hopes is that people understand the intent behind her creations. With Dahaad, the creator-director has experienced the satisfaction of people acknowledging the truths she wanted to highlight.

The trailer may have made one believe that the Sonakshi Sinha and Vijay Varma-starrer revolves around the cat-and-mouse chase between a fierce woman cop and a serial killer. But what makes it a winner is how effectively it delves into themes of gender violence, patriarchy and casteism.

“Whether it’s the case or the caste politics, we took most of it from newspapers. We wanted to tell a bigger story that examines the socio-cultural situations,” says Kagti, who shared the directorial responsibilities with Ruchika Oberoi. Through the Amazon Prime Video series’ protagonist and the multiple murders, Kagti put the social ill of casteism front and centre. She was certain about making her stand clear on issues that people may be reluctant to address.

“Many in this country are in denial of what is happening. Those who believe the caste system doesn’t exist, are privileged. It should be addressed because cinema has the power to make us think,” she asserts. 

But wasn’t she apprehensive about tackling the subject of inter-faith marriage in the current political climate? “If your intent is good, you are okay. I have shown one inter-faith marriage, where the woman wants to do it. I’m not making a statement about anything else. I’m not saying the reverse doesn’t exist. In inter-faith marriages, the narrative that’s coming up is that you are taking [away the] agency of a woman. I couldn’t do Dahaad without getting into it.”

He loves the genre of thrillers and was eager to play the part of serial killer-teacher Anand Swarnakar in Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti’s Dahaad. But little did Vijay Varma know that getting into the psyche of the character, who killed 29 women with the promise of marriage, would be so tough.

“I was scared of the part,” he says, adding, “I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Halfway through [the script], I realized it was going well. So, I finished reading it and got on a call with Reema. She said, ‘If you are interested, let’s cook this together.’ And I was onboard.”

The cast and crew started shooting for the Amazon Prime Video series, directed by Kagti and Ruchika Oberoi, in 2020. Due to the nationwide lockdown, the shoot was stalled for 10 months thereafter. “Even to go back and access this character all over again was a bit of torture, but it was something we all wanted to do. Apart from playing this character, the bond that I had formed with the team and fellow cast members was so special. It was a double-edged experience for me.”

While perfecting the look of the character came easy, Varma confesses that he needed help to understand Anand’s mind. “I knew that on the outside he is a simpleton, well-cultured, well-behaved, and leaning towards being an ideal man. [I felt] the commonality of this character could be far more dangerous than making him overtly [dramatic]. When you look at him, you feel there is something off about him, although you can never put a finger on it. I didn’t understand this person. Why would anyone do this? Reema said that he gets a kick out of it. As much as I understood the terminology, I still needed to understand what went on in his mind. What is this kick? I spoke to a psychologist, explained the character and what he was doing. She then gave me clarity on psychopathic tendencies that drive him.”

While some actors are unable to shake the characters off after shooting, others form an alliance and try to look at the character through his eyes. Varma claimed that he drew a clear line, so much so that he “detested Anand Swarnakar”.

“I completely judged him and every single action that he took, but I was able to imitate him because that’s what we do as actors. The external factors were relatable, but what was happening in the character’s mind was completely [beyond me]. Therefore, it was dangerous for me to sympathize with my character. I detested the person,” says the actor, crediting the writing team for coming up with what he calls a brilliant script.

She debuted as the love interest of a super cop in Dabangg (2010). Thirteen years on, life has come full circle for Sonakshi Sinha, who now leads from the front as a tough-as-nails cop in Dahaad. Her character Anjali Bhaati, however, couldn’t be more different from the gregarious, can-do-it-all on-screen cops that Dabangg’s success spawned. Sinha’s act instead relies on realism, and challenges the stereotype of macho cops.

“The feedback that I have redefined the way cops are portrayed is a huge compliment. You have to wait for the right role to come along. I felt underutilized many times, but then at other times, I also felt I was on the right track,” she smiles, the spotlight firmly on her as the series continues to win praise.

In Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar’s creation, Sinha’s cop is in pursuit of a serial killer, who targets single women in their 30s belonging to oppressed castes. The Amazon Prime Video offering — also featuring Vijay Varma, Gulshan Devaiah and Sohum Shah — not only depicts the rampant casteism in India, but also makes a commentary against misogyny that measures a woman’s worth in terms of her marital status. The theme’s universality resonated with Sinha.

She shares, “Isn’t Anjali every other girl in her workplace or home? No matter what she is achieving, it all boils down to ‘When will she get married?’ Anjali is solving such an important case, but it boils down to, ‘Will she ever get married?’ When working in a man’s world, you have to scream louder to make your voice heard, push through these societal labels and defy attempts to be put into a box. I saw that in her.”

Women across classes and castes can identify with the constant scrutiny around marriage. But does a Bollywood star like Sinha ever face such questions? “She could be the President, but she will still get asked about marriage,” emphasizes the actor.

“[I get this question] all the time! Not from my parents, because they know I am happy with my work. But my mom [Poonam Sinha] has occasionally asked me. That has probably come from the circumstances where people asked her, ‘When will your daughter get married?’ Open the comments section on my social media pages; you will see at least 500 people asking me the same question. No woman is spared, irrespective of the profession,” she laughs.

Sohum Shah outdid himself as Bheema Bharti in Maharani last year, but with Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti’s 'Dahaad,' he changes gears to slip into the role of a man trying to come into his own. Playing sub-inspector Kailash Pargi, who struggles between right and wrong, Shah says that his character “is an amalgamation of his own education, or lack of it”.

“I love the complexities of this character. Pargi is in a world where the lines between right and wrong are blurred, and his worldview is a product of that very cynicism.”

The eight-episode Amazon Prime Video series follows a crack team — Sonakshi Sinha, Gulshan Devaiah, and Shah — on the lookout for a serial killer who has killed 29 women on the pretext of marrying them. Shah believes he could identify with Pargi because he also hails from a small town in Rajasthan. “He is a flawed guy, sure, but he doesn’t understand political correctness. I tried to play it with a stroke of innocence,” says Shah, adding that his Dahaad character questions and breaks out of his own patriarchal conditioning as he becomes a parent in the series.

“My mother doesn’t like it if I make my own tea. That is her conditioning. Pargi similarly goes through this when he starts working on this case and understands how he must stand as an ally to the women around him. The show’s nuances work because it is directed by two women, Reema and Ruchika [Oberoi]. I don’t think a male director would have done it as well. Reema encouraged every opinion and thought [I had]. She allowed [me] space to own the material.”

The show also throws light on caste politics in modern India, which the actor claims to have been witness to “since birth”.

“Caste [divide] is a reality. My worldview evolved after I moved to Mumbai. I used to have a chauffeur, who wouldn’t sit with me no matter how much I insisted. It was his way of thinking. I feel the first-hand experience I have of a small town helped in layering my character and giving it the balanced perspective and understanding it needed,” concludes Shah.

Devi Lal Singh, Kailash Parghi and Anand Swarnakar sit at three disparate points on the goodness barometer. The first, an honest police officer shunted to Mandawa for not accepting bribes; the second, a confused, ambitious, corrupt and mildly chauvinistic but willing-to-evolve sub-inspector. And the last, a mild-mannered Hindi professor with a sick mind and no moral compass. You are able to plot their place basis how they view and treat women against a variegated backdrop of patriarchy and caste oppression.

The actors playing these men—Gulshan Devaiah, Sohum Shah and Vijay Varma—also found themselves guided and controlled by women. Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti are creators of Amazon Prime’s recent thriller, Dahaad. The pair is known to write male characters that women love, and female characters who speak their mind. Another woman, Ruchika Oberoi, joined Kagti as the show’s co-director.

Varma, who is rivetingly disturbing as a remorseless serial killer who traps and murders 29 women after promising them everlasting love much in the same way ‘Cyanide Mohan’, a primary school teacher from Karnataka did between 2004 and 2009, says the hardest part was to come on board with his character.

“I have been raised by women, and have great respect and love for them,” says Varma, “My mom, Kanta, supported me and my choices when no one believed in me. She, my sister Shobha, and my three nieces are my biggest cheerleaders. I have also worked with female directors like Zoya, Reema [Kagti] and Nandita Das, who have shaped me as an actor. I had no idea how to orient myself with these [manipulative] feelings. Reema guided me. She explained that my character had deep issues with how his father had treated his mother, but somehow ends up adopting the same behaviour despite being scarred by his atrocities. I didn’t dwell much on it, and tried to disconnect. Anand also doesn’t let his feelings show, so, I was able to hide behind that character trait.”

He says that being on a set helmed by powerful women, who don’t quite care to preserve societal structures, helped him see that two realities exist in India—the woman who can take her own decisions, and those who cannot even if they desire.

Unlike Varma, Shah says he was able to find similarities between his own person and the character. “My journey is very similar to Parghi’s,” Shah admits.

Like the newly married Rajasthani police officer, Shah also comes from the small town of Ganganagar. “I come from a conservative family. If the women in my home.. my sisters...even so much as stood on the entrance of our home, I’d be naturally tuned to ask them to step inside. This, despite that I was younger to them. Society isn’t favourable [to gender equality], and boys on the street would gawk at them. It’s only after my stay in Mumbai, meeting a variety of people, working with women and experiencing the birth of my own daughter, that I have become progressive. I now feel different although I still get livid at the very thought of someone touching my daughter!”

Devaiah, interestingly, was surprised when he was told that Devi Lal Singh encouraged his wife to keep a open mind about handing their teenage daughter’s freedom. He attributes this to stereotypes we harbour about small town residents. “We tend to paint them in a broad stroke, get judgmental. Devi Lal shatters this idea. He comes from a socio-economic background that probably didn’t allow him to be highly educated or exposed to contemporary ideas. But he is a good guy, doing the right thing. He also wants to do the right thing for his daughter,” the actor says.

Like Shah, Devaiah feels that it’s because Devi Lal plays father to a teenage girl, that he is softer and wants to be a better man. “At home, Devi is a father, not a cop. If you look at Soham’s character, he carries the guilt of not being an upright man. He is not bad at heart but he is greedy. And that’s exactly why he struggles to accept that he is about to bring a child into the world.. a world where he too is not always doing the right thing.”

Devaiah, who in the series, urges his wife to be “modern” like his colleague and sub-inspector Anjali Bhaati (Sonakshi Sinha), points out that it’s not just the men who are flawed. Bhaati has a deeply problematic relationship with her mother (Jayati Bhatia) and her eagerness to see her married. Her backward class lineage is a corpse she carries.

“She is obsessed with proving herself, which is a fault because it gives her a tunnel vision. She is disrespectful of her mother, takes advantage of the leeway her boss offers her. We [viewers] want her to win in the end of course, but we cannot deny that she goes around breaking the law. Caste and gender politics feature prominently here, but in the end, we are all just human beings trying to deal with situations,” he thinks.

The answer to the million dollar question—how is a timid, short-on-looks teacher able to lure dozens of women to abandon their families—lies in the glaring inequality of sexes that continues to permeate everyday life in much of India. Exhausted with the rejection that comes with not being able to pay dowry and overshooting marriageable age, they chase an impossible dream of finding selfless love. “Maybe, some people who watch the show will say, this is not good, let’s change this about ourselves,” Shah hopes.

Varma had come away being more empathetic to the other sex. “For me, kindness is paramount. The story points at how this is lacking in some people. When a piece of art can instill empathy in the audience, that’s the best part. When I took on this role, I thought about how this story would serve us. That offered me motivation. Sometimes, you may be uncomfortable with the issue you are shining a light on, but it’s important to do it.”