Bhumi, you shot for Daldal right after The Royals. While you have said that you took a break from acting after criticism for the latter, you have been appreciated for your performance in the former. Do you have doubts about your decision then?

Bhumi: No, I actually have no doubts about any work I’ve ever done. I have loved everything I have done in my life. I also loved Los Reales. I really enjoyed the show. The reason I took a break was because I wanted to do better in the next decade. I have done 25 movies and shows so far. I want to improve my skills as a performer, as an artist. This will continue: there will be things that work and things that won’t, but I felt exhausted as an actor. That’s why it was important for me to take a step back, go do workshops, study, read, experience life, travel and get in touch with my human side that I had disconnected from. I felt revitalized.

When you watched Daldal, was there anything that you could see that had now changed that you couldn’t see on the screen?

Bhumi: One hundred percent. I have become a child to myself. I had forgotten it. So making Daldal was a healing for me. Sometimes you can’t see certain things because you are very critical and hard on yourself. But there are people around you who have faith in you and form a really strong safety net. Now, more than ever, I needed that. It is important to be protected for all artists, not just actors, because you are very sensitive, vulnerable and even crazy. If any great work comes, it also comes from that place of insecurity.

Speaking of being hard on themselves, Aditya and Samara, why do you always cast these rather traumatized characters instead of playing it safe and singing and dancing like other new actors?

Aditya: Honestly, the decision-making process is much simpler than it seems. Three things allow you to become fully invested in a project or show: the story, the character, and the script. There is no doubt that all three are in their place. Sometimes the satisfaction of coming home after playing these challenging characters, there’s nothing like it.

Samara: There aren’t many options to choose from here. In a sense, I would love to do everything. But a lot of scripts that I end up auditioning for are parts that I have access to within myself and that I really love to put on display. That’s why I gravitate toward these places.

Suresh and Amrit, one would not have imagined that a crime thriller like Daldal could emerge from the minds of the directors of Tumhari Sulu and Gullak respectively. What does this tonal change bring to you as artists?

Suresh: We are storytellers. We don’t want to tell the same stories over and over again. What keeps you alive is the nervousness of jumping genres. You don’t do it just because. You do genres that you love to see and do. While the world can box you, I don’t think you should box yourself. The actors have a lot of freedom. Bhumi can do well from Sonchiriya (2019) to The Royals. It also keeps you alert. In the end the stories are there, but what really interests me are the characters and the actors. That’s why Amrit was given the opportunity to direct Gullak, but there’s more to him. These challenges are what keep you going.

Amrita: I don’t want to repeat myself. Crime drama is my favorite genre. Memories of Murder (2003) is my favorite movie. I really loved Breathe that Abundantia Entertainment made. I really enjoyed working with Suresh sir. I was planning to save this line for Instagram, but “if TVF was my first school, Suresh Triveni is my second school.” It was a learning experience just watching him in the writers’ room.

Bhumi, is this the first time you have been credited as Bhumi Satish Pednekkar?

Bhumi: Yes. I wanted my father’s name to be there because it seemed like the right time. I had been thinking about it for a while. It was a process of getting rid of everything like a reset. It’s not a reset, but a part of my healing. I didn’t have much time to deal with what happened with my father. I had all this time in the last few months when I wasn’t actively on a film set. It’s too personal for me.

Samara and Aditya, their parents Deepak Tijori and Paresh Rawal, were two of the most iconic villains of the 1990s. The legacy lives on in you with Daldal, but is there anything you’ve replicated from their careers and anything you’ve avoided?

Samara: I have watched my father work for many years. Then I haven’t seen him in a while and now he’s back. Honestly, I took a lot away from him in terms of resilience and patience. I’ve seen him have really good days and really bad days. I talk to him about what I’m doing. But it is a discussion. It’s not a “Can I?” It’s a “I’m doing this”. We both have this trust with each other. If I’ve had a bad day during filming or not, I call him. He has been that space for me.

Aditya: Having seen my father and mother work, they have a blue-collar approach to work. I would like to emulate that idea of ​​keeping your head down and working whatever the results are. My father has had ups and downs like anyone in his career, it has never been evident to me because I felt it will always be that way. It has made a conscious effort to reinvent itself that has allowed it this longevity of more than 40 years. You can’t tell that by looking at the surface, but that’s where you invest your mental space instead of worrying about other things. Whatever we see happen in our careers, at least in the near future, they’ve probably seen it all. It’s so refreshing. Nepotism can have a thousand other advantages, but the biggest one is that you have an example in front of you. Sometimes your advice is colored by other things too, right? (Laughs). But you are guided by how they behave. You do what the doctor does, not what the doctor says.

Do you have a favorite Paresh Rawal and a favorite Deepak Tijori performance?

Aditya: Mine is three in one movie: Hey Lucky! Good luck, hey! (2008).

Samara: Mine was Aashiqui (1990) and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992). Shekhar Malhotra forever!

Bhumi, was working with Imran Khan in his comeback film liberating for you as a rom-com fan?

Bhumi: It’s my favorite genre. I was very much in love with Imran Khan when Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na (2008) arrived. I remember seeing this Vogue cover of his that had come out when it came out after many years because he had a little trip. I was like, what movie must this be? yaar? I wish I could make a film like Imran Khan’s. Six months later, I get a call saying, “We have a script. Will you read it?” Honestly, it’s an evolved version of what that genre was because it’s so raw and real. I had a lot of fun working with them.

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Suresh, when you made your directorial debut with Tumhari Sulu in 2017, it was a hit at the box office. But in recent years there has been a steady decline in films directed by women. Do you think we’ve lost that landscape completely?

Bhumi: I hope not!

Suresh: No, to be honest, what you are saying is true. That panorama was the result of the budgets. There was this group of budget from which these films used to be made and released in theaters, but that group no longer exists. It’s really sad because in 2011-2018 there were so many movies of this type. Now it’s difficult. I’m sure it will change. We just need another female-led superhit.

Bhumi: The public will have to make that happen. They will have to go to the cinema. There are good films that we are all trying to get out.

Suresh: Recently, Vidya Balan and I were chatting about a film and the first question we asked each other,”Ye abhi banegi kya?” But I hope everything changes.