EXCLUSIVE: Ridhi Dogra Shares Her Equation With Barun Sobti, Says, 'He Is A Family, My Nephew Calls Him Mamu'
Ridhi spoke exclusively with ABP Live about her co-star Barun Sobti, her experience with Shah Rukh Khan and more.
New Delhi: Ridhi Dogra has secured the third spot on IMDb's list of the ‘Most Popular Indian Celebrities’, surpassing Vicky Kaushal. The actress is flying high on the success of her two back-to-back shows, including ‘Asur 2’ and ‘Badtameez Dil’. Her OTT series ‘Badtameez Dil’ was released on 9th June. The Amazon MiniTV series is about two very different people who fall in love and find themselves in the contemporary world. It shows the highs and lows of relationships and love, which are complex and multifaceted.
Ridhi spoke exclusively with ABP Live about her co-star Barun Sobti, her experience with Shah Rukh Khan and more. She said that she has lost her voice by talking about her work and she has no complaints about it.
Here are the excerpts from the interview:
Tell us about ‘Badtameez Dil’ and your role in it.
I feel the timing of the show has been great. I mean I've spoken a lot about the show but I feel like ‘Badtameez Dil’ and ‘Asur 2’ has come out around the same time. I feel like if I was a viewer and I saw an actor doing such parts… the range is visible.
‘Badtameez Dil’ is a romantic dramedy. It's got comedy, It's got a lot of friendship, It's got a lot of banter, so it's very interesting. It's actually the first time I'm doing this. I have never ever done this space before. So, I'm very excited and I hope there are many more such projects that I do.
Up until ‘Asur’, I've always played a serious, very no-nonsense woman.
There's just a lot of substance to every woman and there's a lot of substance to Liz also, but it has looked at from the lens of a love story. So, it's lighter, it's easier and more fun.
Your character Liz believes in love and romance. What attracted you to this character and is there any similarity between Ridhi Dogra and Liz?
The similarity would be like how any of us would be in love. We have all been in the stage where we've had a crush on someone or someone is in love with us and we don't love that person or we may confuse friendship for love.
When you see the show and you go through the journey with the characters, you realise that it's giving you a perspective on love itself and how it is to be in love. And love is different for different people. So, while relatability I would say, I do relate to it because I'm like anybody else. I also fall in love.
I must say I've binged watched my own three times. The first time I saw it, I saw it only to watch the show. I think the second time I saw it, I was like I want to see my performance and the third time I saw it, it was because I just wanted to go back to it because I wanted to appreciate everything.
Having seen the show now, I do feel like even though it's a rom-com and it's a genre that's taken very lightly and we normally say ‘arey rom-com toh ye sell karte hain’ but our show is actually spoken about a lot of meaningful things. It's not preachy or giving you any gyaan.
So, I relate to that and that's how life is. You have a very deep chat with a friend and then you move on and do the silliest thing. So that's how life is!
Is ‘Badtameez Dil’ a take on modern-day relationships? What's your view of situationships?
I'm not a judge on that and I am nobody to comment on what people are doing. But yeah, I do know that there is situationship going on right now. I know there's a lot of buzz about that on social media. I mean, that's how you know what's happening in the world right now.
So, it is (Badtameez Dil) a take on relationships and because we are in this time and age today, of course, it talks about the modern-day… the way people love these days. It talks about that for sure. It talks about love in ways which is universal, we are not preaching anything. We're not saying Liz and Karan's characters are perfect and that's how love should be, that's not the point the show is trying to make.
The beauty of the show and that's what it is that you know, while you may come to watch the show to see these two characters, you'll be a lot because there are other characters and their life and their Journeys which are very important and placed very well in the story. It's saying a lot of things to the viewers. So, yeah it does have a take on modern-day love and old-age love but I think it talks about just humans and how human beings should have a certain value system.
After ‘Asur’, how is it to work with Barun Sobti again?
It's absolutely different from ‘Asur’. It's more wholesome. There was a lot more give and take. We needed to sort of feed off each other. There was a lot of understanding we needed. Even if it was not Barun and any other actor, this show is such that it needed us to rely on each other, to depend on each other and to take a cue from each other all the time.
I mean my first thought is that Barun is a friend and I was comfortable with him, but I do feel like it's not just because he's a friend. I think what worked in our favour and we realised it probably after the show got over was that we both have a similar work ethic. We come on set with a similar set of work ethics and we have a similar pattern of working.
He (Barun) also likes to be part of the team. That's how I like to work. I like to be present and I like to do the work for the team, so that's exactly how he works. From that point of view, added to that that we are so comfortable with each other because he's almost like family.
My nephew calls him (Barun) Mamu. I was just showing my nephew the show. I said, you have to see a little bit although he's seven. He saw me and he's like, why are you wearing specs, you don't have specs and I said, no, that's my character and then he saw Barun and he's like Barun Mamu is also there. So, Barun is like family. So, there is a lot of comfort. There are things I can talk to him and I can really take support from him just because he's a friend and I know I'll not be judged and I'll not be misunderstood.
So, it was fantastic. I think we should do a lot of work together because it was just so easy to work with each other.
Talking about 'Asur', do you think it was difficult to stand out as an individual actor since it has an ensemble cast?
Oh, actually it was not difficult but it was difficult. Like it was not difficult because I think all our characters are very well-defined. It is very well placed and you're not fighting for screen space or you're not saying Main iss scene me kya kar rahi hu. So, credit I'll give the credit to the writer and creator Gaurav Shukla.
It was difficult because as an actor I couldn't sit back. What happens in an ensemble cast, you can't just relax. You have to give a lot more because things are not designed per se for you their design for the scene they designed for five other characters along with you. So, how do you stand out? How do you keep the audiences eyes on you? What do you do? Those are the things for which an actor's hired. And why do you hire a particular actor?
You can make anybody speak the lines and if you're confident you can come in and do anything but how you make it better is why an actor is hired and why I would be hired.
I add value to the written words, of course, it's written and it's there, but what do I bring to that - in the parameters of the character, of the story, of the scene and of the five other characters present there.
I love to do acting and the only part of my job where I feel it's work is the responsibility.
Do you feel there's a difference in the kind of audiences who watch OTT and who go to the theatre?
Actually, no. I'll be honest, people who watch OTT are far more accepting if your content is good. Luckily, I've picked really good shows on OTT whether it's ‘Asur’, ‘The Married Woman’ or ‘Pitchers’ and there's some more coming out.
What I have seen is - If you give good content, there is an audience that is waiting to watch it. Yes, there's a lot of content and people probably consume three shows per week if they are, you know passionate about it, or at least one show a week. So, of course, people are consuming a lot of content and hence a lot of content is being made also. They don't want to leave, they want to finish the show and in my in all the work that I've done that's been my experience.
Are you satisfied with the kind of role you are getting now?
No, not at all. I am not satisfied. I want to see myself on the big screen now and I want to see myself in the lead. I know ‘Lakadbaggha’ was like that - the movie that came out in January. So, I want to hold a project on my shoulders because I can.
I've done it for so many years in television. I know how it works. The mediums are different, but when you bring your A-game and I mean like when you bring your hundred per cent to the set, you can deliver anywhere. when you bring your dedication and diligence and you are a team member, then you deliver. I feel like I am ready for that. I feel like I'm ready for a team to depend on me and for a team to put that kind of faith in me.
I want to do a ‘Badtameez Dil’ and ‘The married woman’ always… where the show is just based on me and I get to understand the character, really get into the character and push myself and get into the skin of the character.
I'm eager and I'm like itching to just play as many different parts and do justice to their worlds.
And I don't want to relegate myself to standing behind a few actors or be supported. It's nice to have all that. I mean that's great once in a while if I'm standing behind the superstars of the country. You get to learn, you get to imbibe a lot of things. But for my own growth, I'm sure the superstars should also say that everyone should become a superstar.
What's your process for approaching a character?
Every actor has their own method and I am my own method. The one thing that I've realised and this is very interesting because I actually realised during the shoot of ‘Badtameez Dil’ that I am very comfortable not being myself. Like when you see me in any of the shows, that's not Ridhi, that's a character. So, I'm far more comfortable being someone else than being me.
‘Badtameez Dil’ was very tricky because it was such a relevant show, unlike any other shows that I've done. ‘Badtameez Dil’ was the closest to who I was because it was looked at from the lens of real life. Like it was love, life and friends. It was very close to who I was. If you put a camera on me, my life would be something like that. The show played out like life plays out is what I'm trying to say.
While I was doing that show I realized I was very unsure. After I saw the episodes, I realised what my hiccup was. I was very scared that I should not be visible in Liz.
So, it's easier for me to get into the skin of the character and I mean after seeing the show I can tell you Liz is nothing like me. Maybe the last part of Liz is something like me but even that is not like me. So, all my shows are different people and I find it easier to do that. I'm very scared to be myself. I don't think I can do that.
My process is to find that person, find the world, sit with the writer/creator, understand how they see the character and then, of course, as an actor you need sensitivity and empathy. I feel like these are as good as skill sets for an actor. Then, with those you build the character, you put your heart into it and you say what would she do? How would she be? what's her favourite colour and all of that.
I mean I have one more approach, but I'm not going to say it. I don't know maybe someone will take it.
How was your experience with Shah Rukh Khan in ‘Jawaan’?
I can't talk much about it. The experience was fantastic. These are great actors. I have spoken a lot about Shah Rukh Khan. If he also gets to know how much I speak about him, he'll only get embarrassed.
Honestly, I'm not allowed to talk. I've spoken so much about the film that I've got a little instinct to not talk so much about it. It was just fabulous. It's still learning when you work with people who've been around and who are superstars and they exist in skin and flesh in front of you. It’s a moment you pinch yourself. You want to be the actor and deliver and remember that you also come from somewhere and you have to represent what you do. So, you want to be the best.
They make you feel comfortable. They're superstars for a reason and there’s something to learn from them. They have so much humility and so much teamwork spirit in them.
There's a lot one can say, but I'll wait for the film to come out after that if you are interested. Please call me. I'll talk all about it.
Your idea of India in 2047: 100 years of independence.
Sabse pehle toh dhyaan jata hai environment pe.
All the things that I'm reading are that 20 years from now we are going to wear masks and there will be AI everywhere. So, I hope that we plant more trees, we save our soil and we work on fixing our plastic problem.
Development and growth are great, but I do wish for a world that is better for our future generations and for our kids to come. We don't want them to say - what is this world you left for us? So honestly if there's any wish I have, I wish that every breath is clean, the water we drink is good and we have trees that give us shade. Honestly, that's my only hope and wish.
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