It’s so good to see both of you reunite after Luka Chuppi (2019). What really intrigued you about Shehzada, since the film has already been made before. Did you watch the original?
Kriti Sanon: So firstly, I hadn’t seen it when I was narrated the film. And after the narration, Rohit (Dhawan) actually told me not to watch it. Because he was like, your character is totally away from the original. And I have completely changed it. So don’t watch it. But I did watch it. However, more than anything else, I was laughing during the narration, I was reacting to everything. I got teary eyed in moments. I just had a blast during the narration. It kind of took me back to the kind of films that used to get made more in the 1990s, where it was a lot about the family and the family values. And there was so much from romance to comedy, to action, emotions, drama. All of it was packaged in one, a really entertaining film. I feel like we kind of stopped doing that. And this felt like a modern take on it. I really enjoyed the narration, and that was my instant feeling.
Kartik, this is your first all out actioner, so to speak. We’ve seen you doing a lot of action, at least in the trailer. Talk to us about that space, getting into the action mode, doing what Allu Arjun had perhaps already done.Kartik Aaryan: I was really excited because this was the first time that I was doing something like this. The action sequences specifically, I’ve never done in my career. And with this film, I was just really happy that I got a chance to portray a character like Bantu, who has a lot of shades, a lot of emotions and a lot of things to play around with. So I was just happy to be a part of this big masala entertainer film, which has a lot of gravitas and which has a lot of family values intact in it. So basically, I was just excited to be a part of this big commercial massy entertainer. And yeah, for doing this for the first time, I mean, any actor would be excited and so was I. The way the film was written by Rohit Dhawan, Hussain and the entire team. It has a lot of punch lines, it has a lot of dialogue, which has been coming in Hindi films for a long time. We have become very conversational in our films. So I feel here, we are taking you back to maybe the 1990s and doing what we used to do.
Are you nervous about the comparisons to Allu Arjun?
Kartik: With every film, I am being compared to something or someone. So I am okay with not reacting or not thinking about it. When I was offered the film also, I never thought of such things. Because I know that these things always happen with every film – I have seen the same pattern during Bhool Bhulaiyaa and now again during Shehzada. This is a normal question which has been asked again and again to me. But I am okay, I have done my own things and with the character. And I hope what I have done, people will like it.
From Dhamaka to Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, then Freddy and now Shehzada. Is it a pattern that you are following in your career? One mass entertainer and then one serious film?
Kartik: Maybe, next is serious! Or next is a serious love story. I’m playing safe. I didn’t imagine it to be like this. I mean, there was a thought behind choosing such films. But there was not a thought that this film will come after this or this film will come after this. It became like that on its own. But there was this choice of scripts which thankfully was coming to me, and it was a conscious decision to do such films. A mix of a romantic thriller like Freddy, a dark thriller, and then suddenly switching gears to a film as massy as Shehzada.
Kriti you have also been picking interesting scripts, from Mimi to now Ganapath where you are going all out with action. Then you have Adipurush. You have so many wonderful things lined up. Is it a conscious plan?Kriti: No I am not planning that, ‘Okay, I have done this so let me now do one action. Let me now do one thriller.’ It’s not like that. But sometimes what happens is, as an actor when you have already done one thing then it doesn’t excite you anymore to find a similar script. So you are looking for something different. And I am fortunate that I had these opportunities in front of me which were just very different from each other. From even Bhediya to Shehzada, Ganapath, and Adipurush, the one that I am doing with Shahid, I feel like all of them don’t intersect at all, which is nice and it’s interesting and that’s what gets you excited as an actor.
Rohit Dhawan is the director or Shehzada, you’ve said this film has the flavours of the 90s era. How much of his father, David Dhawan do you see in him? Dhawan Senior was one of the most successful filmmakers of that era gone by…Kriti: I have not worked with his father (David Dhawan) so I can’t gauge that, but his world is kind of similar to what David saab’s world used to be back then. Which is why we are also saying 1990s film with a modern touch. And he is just lovely to work with. He is very, very clear with what he wants. He has a clear vision of exactly how the scene should be. So having that clarity in any director is great for an actor, because you can completely surrender and rely on the person because he knows what he is doing. And he knows it so well. He has a very peppy energy, and he sometimes sounds like his brother, voice wise. But it was a lot of fun shooting this film.
