A searing romantic drama about identity, power, and the cost of love in the world we live in, Dhadak 2 initiates conversations not usually explored by mainstream Bollywood movies. The directorial debut by Shazia Iqbal is a remake of the Tamil movie Pariyerum Perumal and is getting a lot of critical praise. Actor Tripti Dimri and Siddhant Chaturvedi play the characters of two young law students who have to fight for their relationship.
The original films which inspired Dhadak and Dhadak 2 were huge box office hits. Were you under any pressure when you took up the film?
Tripti: It depends on how much pressure you take. Honestly, I don’t take any pressure at all since it takes away the joy of acting. If you go on the sets with pressure, you won’t be able to do justice to the character. From the first day itself, you have to have trust the director. What matters is that you go back home feeling happy and content.
Siddhant: I call it a spiritual sequel. Somewhere, the essence is the same, but the world is different. That first one is a colourful film, but this is more gritty and intense; the tone is completely different. However, when we started doing this film, we always felt that we should raise the benchmark for this film. Sometimes sequels are made with an effect, but we wanted it to be better than the first one, with double impact. I think this film has it. I am confident that when you see the film, you will react.
Did you face or experience caste discrimination since you both hail from small towns?
Tripti: Thankfully, I have never seen or heard any such stories. I was not aware of this, but yes, I have read about such incidents in newspapers. It does not only happen in small towns but in big cities too. People who are educated have been doing it. We have become so insensitive that we turn a blind eye towards it. This film is going to educate people about it.
Siddhant: I spent my childhood in Ballia, my home town in UP. My grandfather was a Pandit, and my father often narrates a story of my grandfather. In our community, we don’t shave off our moustache in the family unless our father dies. When we decided to shift to Mumbai, my father went and shaved off his moustache for style. The entire community came to question my grandfather. He told them he didn’t have any issues about it. He was a broad-minded man, and he made sure that there was no caste discrimination in the area where we lived. Till date, I have not seen anything of this sort happening there. What I have seen is people of the lower strata come home and refuse to sit on the couch.
The film addresses the college life of two students. Did you relive your college experience during the shoot?
Tripti: We had a lot of fun in college and the classrooms. We would laugh and play games that took away the intensity of the scenes. In fact, I asked Shazia what have you done.
Siddhant: I always looked forward to doing a film on college life. I have never enjoyed my college days as I was preparing for Chartered Accountancy whilst I was doing my graduation. In the evening, I would refresh myself at theatre classes. There was no time to enjoy those days.
You have been experimenting with roles right from your debut venture. Was it a deliberate attempt?
Siddhant: Yes, I have tried to do that. Be it with Gully Boy, Gehraiyaan or Yudhra. I believe when you do a particular role, you become popular with that, and the market works on that. You get similar kinds of roles. I don’t want to market myself on those lines. I want to disrupt the market.
Tripti: I have been doing that from my first film. I try to give my hundred per cent to every film I am doing. I have seen and learnt a lot over the years. But there have been setbacks, too.