Movies have often made us dream big and add points to our bucket list- one among them has been to go out on a bike ride to a distant land with your friends. After movies like 'Dil Chahta Hai' and 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara', we yearned for a film where we see women going out on a trip together and 'Dhak Dhak', which hit the theatres this October was indeed one such film. Starring Ratna Pathak Shah, Dia Mirza, Fatima Sana Shaikh, and Sanjana Sanghi, it is a road-adventure film written and directed by Tarun Dudeja and produced by Ajit Andhare, Kevin Vaz, Pranjal Khandhdiya, and Taapsee Pannu.
The film is about four women in different age groups who set out for a road trip on their Enfileds for different reasons but along the journey, they create bonds with each other that they couldn't have imagined. To know more about the film and the bike-ride experience, ABP Live caught up with Sanjana Sanghi over a call where she spoke about the thrilling experience she had while shooting, for it was her first time on an Enfield!
Sanjana, who plays the character of 'Manjari', described the film as "a simple story of four ordinary women on an extraordinary journey." Talking about her character, she further added, "I play Manjari who is the youngest of them all, who is an over-protected, innocent, naive girl from Mathura, who has always lived under her mother's shadow and she steps on for this journey on the bike. With my character, you see her process of evolving and discovering herself through the journey."
Sanjana is a Delhi girl and had never had such an experience of going on a bike ride which made this film all the more exciting for her as it was her first bike ride and that too on an Enfield!
Sharing about it, Sanjana said, "It was my first bike ride experience. I am a Delhi girl and there was no way my father would have allowed me to get on to an Enfield. Mujhe bohot daant padti. But, now because of my work, I get to try a lot of things, so no complaints there. So, it was my first time and now I am so glad that it's a skill I can boast of having because it is the most thrilling experience that I have ever had."
Since it was her first time on a bike, Sanjana was nervous initially but she happened to have learnt to ride pretty fast and that was indeed a memorable moment for her.
She said, "I have to say that our production- Taapsee Pannu and her entire team gave us the best training support. So, we had brilliant instructors who were with us during the prep process and I was very nervous about how long will it take me to become good at biking. Luckily in the first training session, when I sat on the bike, my trainer was explaining the basics to me, she was supporting and holding the bike when I put on the engine for the first time, but then after about 10 minutes of riding, I didn't even realise until I looked back to find that she had left me and I was riding on my own."
"And, that was a moment I can't even describe because I couldn't believe it. I had found my balance, I had found my centre and from that moment on I realised that 'yeh kuch special connection hai' and all my stress went away," she added.
Sharing her first riding experience, Sanjana said, "It's actually beyond what I could have had on my bucket list because growing up as a regular middle-class girl in Delhi, there is no way you can even think that these things are possible and genuinely, Ladakh and the terrain is so challenging that going on a personal trip is very risky. It was only under the protective arms of our production team and crew and their insane commitment to making this happen that we could do it, but getting to go on this thrilling experience while also making a film that you are deeply passionate about really feels like a divine intervention."
Talking about whether she would like to go more more bike rides after having such a wonderful experience in the film, Sanjana said, "I really do, I actually have ordered one for myself and I plan on having it with me in Mumbai so that... I am scared of city riding because I think our city roads are too risky, but I want to go out on long rides, even if it's just along the Goa-Lonavla route or anything along the Konkan coast because I now love it, I am confident about it and I don't wanna let go of it as a skill."
The terrain of Ladakh is a place which most of us want to visit. Thanks to the film, Sanjana got to visit the 'paradise on earth' on this journey and she immensely loved it.
Talking about Ladakh, she said, "Ladakh is literally paradise. There is something about the way the sunlight kind of pierces through that chilly air, that is so unique. For me, Ladakh till then was just '3 Idiots' and the climax of that film, I didn't ever think it was a real place. So, finally when we reached... the air is very thin, so it's quite challenging for the body- you have to acclimatise and actually you are not allowed to be out for more than five hours, but we would be shooting for 10-12 hours, so it really put our body through a lot of exertion. Still, I wouldn't let go of this experience for the world."
"We have shot in absolutely undiscovered corners of Ladakh, places along the Indus River that are not discovered by tourists and that's what you get to see in the film and that's what in all the responses people have been like 'aise lag raha tha ki aankho ko massage kar raha hai koi' because those visuals are so stunning."
Discussing the film and her character, Sanjana said that Majari is an innocent and naive person. So, on being asked whether she too is as innocent just like Manjari, Sanjana said, "I would like to believe that I am innocent in the sense that Manjari and I both kind of wear rose-tinted glasses and view the world and I do have a child-like curiosity and I like to believe the good in the people and you know that's how I kind of conduct my life."
'Dhak Dhak' hit theaters on October 13, 2023.