00:00I mean, I got a casting call, simple as that. I've been around in the industry for like
00:08around 10-12 years now. 12-13 years almost. Since Farzi got out, things became much more
00:16easier and nicer, you know, like I would get calls for better characters and all of that.
00:21So similarly, because of that, Malegaon ka bhi call, I got a casting call and I had to
00:25test for it. I tested for Akram's part first and then I tested for Farooq's part after
00:30that. And then I tested for Irfan's also and they finally locked me for Irfan. I have worked
00:36with Zoya and Farhan sir before on Bombay Miri Jaan. So I've worked with XL before.
00:41This is my second project with them. With Reema, it's my first project and she's a
00:47great director. She knows her deal. She knows what she wants. Her edit is in her mind and
00:54everything. Toh unke saath bhi, it was a learning experience, I would say. And when
01:00it comes to Adarsh and Vineet and Shashank, they're all fantastic and they're all amazing
01:05in what they do. So it was a good collaborative effort for me as well. It was a great learning
01:09experience for me as well from these guys. Whether it's Reema, whether it's Adarsh,
01:14Vineet bhai or Farhan bhai. Apart from that, approaching the character, I would say we
01:20had a series of workshops with Mr. Atul Mongia, who is one of the best acting coaches in the
01:26industry right now. So we had a 5-6 day workshop where all of us were there, which helped us
01:31bond together as a group, which helped us empathise and relate to the characters more.
01:37We also got to meet the real characters. We got to meet Mr. Nasir. Mr. Alim was our dialect
01:43coach. So we got to meet them as well and we got a bunch of information from them. Apart
01:48from that, the documentary in itself, Superman of Malegaon, directed by Faiza Ahmed Khan.
01:55All of these things combined together and obviously Reema's vision, what she wanted
02:00and Varun Grover's writing, the script. So all of these things combined together helped
02:07us all of us create the character and bring it on the screen. So there was no one particular
02:12process as such. We had to go through a few different, different things to get into the
02:17skin of the character. The dialect coaching, whether it's interactions with Nasir, whether
02:22it's interactions with Varun sir, interactions with Reema and whatever Atul Mongia taught
02:29us. So all of these things coming together, binding together, helped us get into the skin
02:34of the character.
02:40So Atul sir focuses a lot on breathing of course. There's a lot of breathing and there's
02:44a lot of meditation required. So the day would begin with like a half an hour session
02:51of meditation where all of us would just gather and meditate for a while. And then he started
02:58to open us up as what we are, as me, as Saqib, as Adarsh, as Adarsh, Shashank as Shashank,
03:04Palla as Palla, Vanuja as Anuj. So he opened us up, he urged us to speak about, he urged
03:11us to be vulnerable basically. He urged us to be vulnerable about our own lives, real
03:16lives, not the lives of the characters that we are going to live. He urged us to be vulnerable
03:20about our own lives and share it with everybody. So I would not tell you like what all everybody
03:27said because that's very personal to everybody. But like you know there were things which
03:32Adarsh was like holding on to, I was holding on to those things, Vineetbhai was holding
03:37on to and we opened ourselves in front of each other and we were just plain vulnerable
03:44with each other and Reema was also present there at that time. So I think that was one
03:47of the things which made us trust each other and respect each other more and become closer
03:56together as people. Because all of us had never met before. We knew of each other, like
04:02me and Adarsh had just worked once on an ad a few years ago. Shashank I've never worked
04:07with Vineetbhai. Same goes with Pallav and Anuj and Manjari and everybody. But all of
04:13these exercises that we had with the females as well, with Manjari and Muskaan as well,
04:19that made us vulnerable with each other and you know which bonded us together. Along with
04:23that we had to do the scene work from the film. The script was ready, we had read the
04:28script. So Atul sir made us do the scene work. We had these improvisation exercises. We had
04:34breath work exercises. And you know we would just, apart from that we would just have lunch
04:40together and you know after our classes, after the workshop, the day would get over. We would
04:45all gather in the evening at Adarsh's house or maybe Pallav's house and you know just
04:49like have a coffee and chit chat and just talk about life and everything. So we kind
04:54of bonded off camera as well. Even while shooting we would have lunch together, we would have
04:59dinner together in the hotel. On set as well we would probably sit on one same table. All
05:05of us would sit on one same table and eat together. Or probably you know like in one
05:09of the vanity vans, maybe Shashank's vanity or maybe Adarsh's vanity or whoever's vanity
05:13you know. We would all just spend time together. So all of that you can see is translated on
05:19the screen. You know all of this homework, all of this background work, it's visible
05:26on the screen if you've seen the film.
05:30Absolutely, I think that does bring a sense of security because when you know that your
05:38project is being backed by Prime Video or Netflix or whatever, you know that they are
05:42going to put in a bunch of effort and money and whatever you want to call it for the promotions.
05:50You know that this project is going to be out. First of all that it will be released.
05:55You're not wondering that it might get stuck somewhere or it might not get released.
05:59Because when you know there's a Prime Video backing it, it will come out at some point
06:02of the time, some point of the year. So there is a sense of security and all. Apart from
06:07that they have their own game plan when it comes to marketing and promotions and everything
06:12which is out of our control as an actor. So we don't really know how much of spotlight
06:18and how much of importance will be given to each and every character in the film or the
06:21show. Which is why we do our own PR and our own marketing activities. But yeah, coming
06:27back to your question, I would agree that there is a sense of security and safety when
06:31there's a big studio backing something like a Prime Video backing your project.
06:40Honestly, Farhan didn't really interfere much I would say because it's more than
06:45XL, this is Tiger Baby's film. And Tiger Baby is Zoya and Reema's company. So more
06:52than XL, it's Tiger Baby's film. So Farhan didn't really have a lot of inputs. He was
06:56supervised, he would come say hi, hello, he would meet us, he would just overlook things
07:01how everything is going and all. Zoya also I think didn't really interfere much. She
07:09completely trusts Reema with everything and she also has complete trust with Mr. Varun
07:14Grover as well. So similarly, I think their inputs were more of making us comfortable
07:21and making us confident and giving us that push and giving us that extra motivation to
07:28just go out and kill it. And the fact that she just entrusted us with such a big project
07:34was all in all everything. As producers, that's a really amazing thing that they really don't
07:40interfere in the script because sadly in the industry, producers are pretty infamous
07:45for their interference and interfering in the creative aspect of the script. Maybe she
07:52might have done her part, she might have done her bit behind the camera when we were not
08:00there in the corporate meetings and everything when these guys would come together. But in
08:05front of us, she never really blatantly interfered or came, I wouldn't say interfered, just
08:13had things to say apart from the things that I told you. Making us feel comfortable, motivated
08:18and just to go out and kill it. Most of the upper hand was taken by Reema and she was
08:28like the show runner and everything of the film apart from Varun sir who had his script
08:36impeccable. So we didn't really need to put in as much of an effort.
08:46I mean we have to adapt. There's a bunch of, I mean for Malegaon luckily there wasn't
08:51really much of a surprise element every day because the weather was favourable, actors
08:56and everybody, the whole crew was very cooperative and everybody was usually punctual and everything
09:02was ready. There was not much of mismanagement, there was not much of disorganisation. So
09:07on Malegaon I would say everything was pretty much on paper, on point. But I have been through
09:13projects, I have done a show on Amazon Mini called La Vadhura which released last year
09:18and we were shooting in Kerala and the weather would just not be on our side. Sometimes it
09:23would get cloudy and the next moment it would be sunny. So the DOP would have to adapt at
09:27that time. We also would have to adapt because if it is now very cloudy or if it's raining
09:31so now we have to probably do some other scene. So we as actors I think adaptation is I think
09:37a very important skill which an actor can and should have. So the surprise element would
09:42always be there. I mean as an actor I would say we shouldn't and as an actor and as a
09:48filmmaker also, we cannot be taken aback. We cannot let it affect us. Worst case scenario
09:55if there is something which is completely out of our control, we call it a day. We call
09:59it a day, we cancel the shoot and we just go back and we figure out a new plan, we figure
10:04out a new plan, we think of new ideas to do things. But this is something which is part
10:10and parcel of the industry, of the filmmaking business. So I think adaptation is what helps
10:14the scope with these kind of things.
10:19Yeah, I mean I am doing Rakht Ram Maand. I don't know, I mean it's on hold right now
10:26for some reasons. But I hope it resumes soon. But yeah, Rakht Ram Maand is happening right
10:31now. I have done Farzi with them. Hopefully the second season of Farzi should begin by
10:35the end of this year or probably next year as soon as possible basically. No, no, no,
10:41I think the script is still being written. It's still in the writing phase. So from the
10:45knowledge that I have, I could be wrong as well. But yeah, this is what it is as of now.
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