Exclusive: Drashti Dhami And Gulshan Devaiah On Their Multi-Dimensional Characters In ‘Duranga’, Social Media Presence, And K-Dramas

Exclusive: Drashti Dhami And Gulshan Devaiah On Their Multi-Dimensional Characters In ‘Duranga’, Social Media Presence, And K-Dramas

You know, it is true that people often lie for multiple reasons. Some people lie to hide their secrets from other people, some lie in order to gain something for themselves, and others lie to save their close ones. However, the concept of a perfect lie is nothing but a myth because the truth always reveals itself no matter what. Well, speaking of a perfect lie, the series titled Duranga starring Drashti Dhami and Gulshan Devaiah is all set to release on ZEE5 and the concept is quite intriguing.

Duranga is an official Hindi adaptation of the popular k-drama titled Flower of Evil featuring Lee Joon-gi and Moon Chae-won in the lead roles. Helmed by Goldie Behl, the thrilling series stars Drashti Dhami as Ira Jaykar Patel, a cop and Gulshan Devaiah as Sammit Patel/Abhishek Banne, her husband and a suspected serial killer. The Duranga trailer is full of secrets, twists, drama, and murders. As a lover of crime dramas and Korean dramas, I was very curious about this upcoming show.

So, in a conversation with the two leading actors, Drashti and Gulshan, I got to know a lot about their multi-dimensional characters and much more.

Excerpts from our conversation:

Q: The Duranga trailer is quite intriguing. What can you tell us about it, and your characters?

Gulshan Devaiah: There is definitely a duality. There’s something that you see is not exactly what you get and that’s the intriguing part of the story. The character that I’m playing is a very loving husband. He’s a sculptor, he’s a bit of a recluse who is just mostly there in his studio and planning his exhibition. As the story moves forward, you start to realise there is more to him and he is married to a cop, which is played by Drashti Dhami. A sequence of copycat murders that happens and then, somehow it seems to be a link between Sammit and those murders or maybe not. So, things start to get really exciting and mysterious. 

Drashti Dhami: I’m a cop. I give 100% to what I do, which means work and my family. For me, I think I have a perfect husband and that’s Sammit Patel. A chain of events happens where I find that something is a miss and he has broken my trust and how I unfold the mystery is the show.

 

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Q: Drashti, your character, Ira, is a badass cop but she’s also a soft-hearted person. What was the prep for such a multi-dimensional character?

Drashti Dhami: Honestly, a lot of prep to play a cop because I have never done that before. So getting the body language, behaving and talking that tough. But at the same time, when I come back to the family at the end of the day, I’m a mother and a wife. So, getting a balance between the two was something that I  had to work on.

 

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Q: Gulshan, anti-heroes are in trend right now. How do you get into the headspace to play a morally grey character? What’s your process like? Especially the smile that you crack in the trailer?

Gulshan Devaiah: A lot of practise and use of imagination. And then I give as much time as possible for pre-production. I really like doing pre-production because that’s where you figure everything out about the character and that is how you build, you construct the illusion of a character. And also my interactions with the director and the rest of the team, and then I know what I have to do, it becomes easy. Though, it can be challenging at times, figuring things out can be challenging but it’s also a great deal of fun and you are working with yourself and others to try and figure out what is the character, and how will this person behaves in different circumstances. That can be a lot of work but also fun. When I was on the set, I didn’t have to think too much because we already knew what we were supposed to do. We had a lot of rehearsals, readings, and discussions regarding the scenes while we were filming, so that definitely makes it easy. 

 

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Q: The series is an adaptation of the K-drama Flower of Evil. So did you take any cues from Moon Chae Won and Lee Joon gi’s characters?

Gulshan: We haven’t seen the K-drama (Flower Of Evil) and we didn’t want to see it because we didn’t want to be influenced by it, intentionally and unintentionally. So, we were just staying away from it and just doing what we could do in our way. To have our own take on the story and the characters. I have heard that a lot of people like the original show and the performances of the two leading actors are really good but we decided to not watch the show and it was a personal choice. Nobody stopped us from watching it; they would have probably encouraged us to watch it. However, we decided not to watch it without discussing it with each other as we wanted to have our own take on this and to see what else we can do. So, there’s no question of any subconscious influence but it’s not about right or wrong. Even if we have watched it, we would still be able to have a fresh perspective. But seems to be a good idea to not know anything about the show and have a fresh perspective.

Q: Duranga blends two genres. What was your favourite, the romance or the thriller?

Drashti Dhami: The mix of romance and thriller. It starts with romance and ends with a thriller.

Gulshan Devaiah: When we were discussing the genre, we decided that, “Yes, let’s approach it as a love story,” and it was a good idea. We decided not to think too much about everything else that is dark in the plot, it’s just a story of two people who are in love. That’s what we tried to focus on.

Also Read: ‘Duranga’ Trailer: Gulshan Devaiah Is The Perfect Husband Of Drashti Dhami, But With A Dark Secret

Q: Gulshan, I know you are hilarious on Twitter! And Drashti, your Instagram reels are so fun! As celebrities, do you feel the need and pressure to maintain multiple personalities, like one for the cameras, one for social media, and one that is actually you?

Gulshan Devaiah: I want to be my authentic self. If you meet me somewhere, that’s exactly how you should feel about me while reading my Twitter posts as well. I try my best. This is who I am in my real life and my social media should be an extension of my real self where I can express myself a little more freely than in real life, but I don’t want to play a character. It’s fun playing such characters in shows like Duranga, but I don’t have to do that in real life.

 

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Drashti Dhami: My Instagram is filled with workouts and that’s how I am in real life. I don’t miss my workouts. Once in a while, I make reels and it’s pretty much me, I don’t force myself or I don’t do it because I have to do it. I might pick a reel, which I think is easy to shoot or it’s funny or it’s me and that’s why I do it.

 

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Q: On a lighter note, Duranga is about the perfect lie. So let’s play a quick game. Between the two of you, who is a better liar?

Duranga also stars Abhijit Khandkekar, Hera Mishra, Barkha Bisht, Rajesh Khattar, Divya Seth, and Zakir Hussain among others. Directed by Pradeep Sarkar and Aijaz Khan and produced by Goldie Behl and Shradha Singh, Duranga will premiere on August 19, on ZEE5.

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