There is a flip-side to a successful first season—it raises the audience’s expectations from the subsequent edition. Gulshan Devaiah will agree. The actor, who is gearing up for the release of the second season of Duranga, admits he was as nervous as he was excited about it.

“This is the first time that [my show] has got a second season, so I was happy. [But] I didn’t want to be complacent, which is good, because it made me pull up my socks,” he says.

What made the ZEE5 crime drama all the more special was that it reunited him with director Rohan Sippy.

“He gave me one of my first opportunities in Dum Maaro Dum [2011]. So, it was nice to come back to him 12 years later as his leading man.” The actor also considers himself lucky to have found good co-stars in Drashti Dhami, Barkha Bisht and Amit Sadh.

Good co-stars are a boon to an actor’s pursuit of excellence. Devaiah found that in his Ulajh co-star Janhvi Kapoor as well. From believing that they will never share screen space, to being deeply impressed by her, it has been quite a ride for the actor.

He shares, “I briefly met Janhvi during the promotions for Ghost Stories [2020] and found her funny. That’s a good first impression one can have of anyone. I never imagined that we would be paired together in a film because we have different sensibilities. Whenever two people with contrasting styles come together, it can be interesting. When we met, she mentioned a few nice observations about my character. She is extremely hardworking. I couldn’t do the amount of things that she does in a week.”

So, Bipasha Basu is relieved to have husband as co-star in MX Player’s exclusive new series, Dangerous, which starts streaming today
Ankita Chaurasia (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 14, 2020)

Bipasha Basu returns to the screen after four years with a slick thriller, Dangerous, a story of betrayal, love, passion, deception, and rivalry. The Bhushan Patel-directorial had started off as a film, Aadat Diaries, but will now mark the actress’ debut in the digital space. She is happy it will release on MX Player as a series, reasoning she wouldn’t want people watching it in theatres in the midst of a pandemic. “More people can be reached through digital platforms anyway. Internationally, people had warmed up to OTT long ago. In India, the Coronavirus lockdown has brought about a boom, which is only going to grow,” she asserts.

A huge fan of investigative thrillers and female detectives like Eve Polastri in Killing Eve played by Sandra Oh, and Anna Friel’s Marcella Backland in Marcella, she jumped at the opportunity. “I play Neha Singh, a Scotland Yard detective. I cut my hair short, and put to use all that I had learnt at acting workshops with Roland Joffé for Singularity, which includes making her own back story for the character.” So what’s Neha’s backstory? “Even my director doesn’t know,” she chuckles.

In Dangerous, Bipasha pairs up with actor-husband Karan Singh Grover for the first time after they got married in April 2016, insisting that on the set, they are actors first. “I need my space when I’m working and Karan understands that. Having a spouse for a co-star works, because you understand their moods. Also, kissing scenes are easier,” she quips, admitting that in the past liplocks always made her break into a fever. “I don’t mind lovemaking scenes because you can cheat on camera but a liplock is scary! I got rid of one in Dum Maaro Dum and had my livid director (Rohan Sippy) wondering which era I belonged to. During Bachna Ae Haseeno also, Siddharth Anand would laugh at my reluctance. I gave in eventually, but was freaking out even while kissing my good friend (R) Madhavan in Jodi Breakers. Now, they’ve become the norm, so I’ll have to power through my fevers.”

So, does this mean more films only with hubby? “No, Karan and I won’t be working together for some time now, except for ads. It’s unhealthy!” she insists, adding that she’d completely blissed out, not realising how much time had passed. “Last year, during the Diwali parties, my producers and directors lectured me, and even Mr (Amitabh) Bachchan wondered where I’d been, and why I wasn’t acting, looking pointedly at Karan, who explained he wasn’t my boss. I promised him I’d be back soon and last month started reading scripts.”

Dangerous brings back some harrowing memories too as, during the London shoot, Karan had injured himself badly. “A titanium rod had to be inserted in his left leg. I didn’t have family there, so had to take all decisions myself while filming,” she shudders, recalling that since Karan wasn’t allowed to fly home immediately after the surgery, they spent Diwali in a hotel room with only her assistant. “We didn’t know if he’d be able to be as active with the rod, but he does more things now with that leg than with the other,” she gushes, adding that her better half is not a regular guy chasing money and fame. “He’s sensitive and creative; his soul belongs in the jungle. Atrangi aadmi se shaadi ki hai maine and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The duo has packed a lot into the lockdown with their ritual of meditating, working out, gardening, and cooking. “We have a lot of plants and with the gardener away; I’ve become quite an expert at looking after them. I am growing so many vegetables and have discovered I’m an international chef too, who can whip up some healthy but tasty recipes while Karan has grown into a good handyman. He’s also been painting a lot while I’ve taken courses in everything, including chakras,” she reveals. She adds that their TV time is limited to between 7-8:30 pm. And today, she’s looking forward to watching Dangerous with Karan when it streams for free on MX Player. “I wanted to experience it with the rest,” she signs off.

As told to Akash Bhatnagar (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 29, 2020)

I still remember the first day I walked on to a film set as an actor for my Telugu debut, Leader. On the first day itself, I had scenes with Suhasini Maniratnam, who was playing my mother in the film. Sekhar Kammula, my director, and his ADs, all chilled-out people, were a bit overwhelmed since the scale of this film was slightly big. Eventually, Suhasini ji was the one who made me comfortable, sitting with me, rehearsing the scene and chatting about different things to familiarise me with my surroundings. I was stunned to see a veteran actress like her sit down and chat with me.

Coincidentally, my first shot was of the two of us sitting together after my father’s death in the film. She gives me his diary, which has a list of all that he wanted to do in his life. It felt somewhat surreal, but I was happy to face the camera.

Rohan’s (Sippy, director) wife Roopa had got some stills of mine from Leader through a friend from the sets. They were casting for Dum Maaro Dum at the time and Rohan called me to ask if I wanted to audition. I was game. He sent the script over and I loved it. All this happened around the initially scheduled release of Leader, a political film. At that time, there was a lot of political disturbance in Andhra Pradesh, with the erstwhile Chief Minister (Y S Rajasekhara Reddy) having just passed away. Our film was getting pushed repeatedly. So, when I got Rohan’s call, I took some rushes from Leader along, with the editor’s approval. Rohan liked them and told me that they would be shooting in Goa for three-four months. And I was on board.

Being from Hyderabad, I knew and spoke Hindi, but I never thought I would be speaking it in a film so soon. Luckily, since I was a Goan in the film, my accent didn’t matter. But I did undergo diction-training in Hindi and guitar classes, biking lessons. I was in Mumbai for around two months for the prep before the film rolled.

Dum Maaro Dum was set in Goa, with just Prateik (Babbar) and me there along with Rohan during the first week of the shoot. I’d been hanging out with them for a while during the training and since we were around the same age, it turned out to be the best film shoot of my life. For my first shot, it was just Prateik and me enjoying ourselves at a carnival. And for the first five days, it was only that, after which the main work started.

There was a sense of accomplishment after doing two films in two years, in two different film industries. But the euphoria faded away quickly, as my next films in both languages tanked the year after. In my first three years in the industry, I had two hits and two flops. That was a reality check!


Rana Daggubati with Suhasini Maniratnam in Leader; with Prateik Babbar in Dum Maaro Dum

Subhash K Jha (DNA; December 15, 2016)

Long before Sunny Leone swung into the groove for Raees, Laila O Laila was a trailblazing chartbuster that set the nation aflame, way back in 1980. The film was Feroz Khan’s stylish blockbuster Qurbani…. But wait, the film’s iconic song was never meant to be in Qurbani!

Song came first
Reveals Zeenat, “We shot the song Laila Oh Laila for another film altogether with another title. After we shot it, Feroz being the mercurial movie mogul that he was, decided to scrap the original film, script and title. He instead decided to make Qurbani overnight. We were fine with the decision because we had only shot that song Laila Oh Laila…so, Qurbani was born after we filmed the song.”

Great fun
Zeenat remembers the phenomenal reach of the song and adds, “When we were shooting the song, we never thought it would acquire such an iconic status. I mean, we had a lot of fun shooting it. But I never thought I’d be remembered by that song and by Aap Jaisa Koi (again from Qurbani) to this day.”

Doing my own thing
Not surprisingly, most of Zeenat’s signature moves in the song were improvised. She recalls, “I don’t remember if we had a formal choreographer on the sets. But I do remember Feroz telling me to do my own thing. Whether it was Laila in Qurbani or Dum Maro Dum in Hare Rama Hare Krishna, I grooved to my own beats. Today, wherever I go, I am asked about these two songs and of course, the sublime songs of Satyam Shivam Sundaram.”

Happy with remixes
Zeenat has not heard or seen the new version of Laila Oh Laila in Raees. “I have been out of the country. But I am sure they’ve done a wonderful job of it. The team is talented. I am glad my songs Dum Maaro Dum and Laila Oh Laila have been re-mixed. A whole new generation gets the chance to hear it.”

Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 23, 2014)

Hare Rama Hare Krishna was born during a trip to Nepal for the wedding of the crown prince. In Kathmandu, Dev Anand came across a group of hippies smoking marijuana. The flower children lost in a haze of drugs and delusions, intrigued him, in particular a young runaway. And an idea germinated.

A close associate of the late actor, Mohan Churiwala, picks up the thread of the story: "Dev saab told the king he wanted to go someplace quiet to write his story. He was flown to Pokhara where he penned the rough draft. On his way back, in Kathmandu he realised that he'd left the draft behind. By then the chopper was gone."

Back in Mumbai, Anand approached SD Burman to score the music for Hare Rama Hare Krishna. The composer thought it was a mythological but when he heard what the actor-filmmaker had in mind, he was horrified.

"In the early draft, Devsaab's character Prashant falls in love with the hippie girl Janice, only to realise that she's his long-lost sister, Jasbir. The hint of incest shocked Dada. He wasn't pleased even when Dev saab assured him that he'd introduce a local girl, Shanti, and the hero will romance her," says Churiwala.

Reportedly, he tried to convince Anand to drop the "dirty" subject and then told him to take it to his son Pancham who was better suited to give music for a film about hippies, drugs and estranged siblings.

RD Burman came up with hummable tracks like Phoolon ka taron ka, Kaanchi re and Ram ka naam badnaam na karo. Anand loved them, but asked for another song that would precede Ram ka naam badnaam na karo and justify the lyrics. Anand Bakshi and RD came up with Dum maro dum, mit jaye gam, bolo subah shaam Hare Krishna Hare Ram.

"When Dev saab first heard the song he was skeptical and according to Pancham didn't want it, apprehensive that it would stir off a controversy," says Churiwala. The song eventually got Asha Bhosle the Filmfare best playback singer award and became a cult classic. Years later, Anand would fondly remember sitting on the studio floor with Asha, S D and RD Burman while working on the song. He was seriously upset when Pritam remixed it with reworked lyrics as the title track of Rohan Sippy's Dum Maaro Dum. Outraged, he sent an open letter to the producers and raged that no one could take away his song on the basis of some clause in the contract.

The filmmaker at the time was gearing up for the release of Hum Dono Rangeen and simultaneously working on half-a-dozen scripts, one of them was Hare Rama Hare Krishna Aaj. He was planning to return to Nepal to shoot the sequel and scouting for a new girl to take Jasbir's story forward. But death took him away.

The casting of Jasbir in the earlier film is a story in itself. Anand had approached Mumtaz who broke the CINTAA film ceiling to work with him despite threats from the producers' body. Fortunately, K Asif, who was heading the association, stood by them and facilitated her departure to Kathmandu for the shoot. But she insisted on playing Anand's wife and not his sister.

The filmmaker then approached Zaheeda, his Prem Pujari co-star who pointed out that having played his girlfriend, she'd never be accepted as his sibling. "Zaheeda was also doing her brother-in-law Amarjeet's Gambler opposite Dev saab and that was another reason for turning down the role," adds Churiwala.

That is when Anand was introduced to Zeenat Aman, Miss Asia Pacific 1970, at a party. She offered him a cigarette. As she lit it, her eyes lit up. He knew he'd found his Jasbir.

The film which released on December 9, 1971, won Zeenat the Filmfare Award for best supporting actress and the actress who after the forgettable Hungama and Hulchul had been planning to reurn to Germany with her mother stayed on to reign as Bollywood's glamour queen.