After winning the hearts of the audience with his performance in the 'Jamtara series', actor Udit Arora charmed the audience with his performance as Dhiman in the Disney+Hotstar web series 'Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo'. The rugged character shaped by Director Homi Adajania has garnered a lot of attention with his pitch-perfect portrayal. The adopted son of Rani Baa claims to be someone who cannot be overshadowed in the series by any other character rather than the Lead of the series, Rani Baa aka Savitri played by Dimple Kapadia.
In an exclusive interview with ABP Live, Arora talked about his performance in the series and how it was different from Jamtara's Saurav. He also detailed the intricacies of the experience of shooting intimate scenes with his love interest in the story, Shanta played by Radhika Madan. The actor also gave us an insight into some memories that he will always cherish.
Below are the excerpts from the interview:
How was your transition from Saurav to Dhiman? How did you prepare for it?
Jamtara's Saurav and Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo's Dhiman are polar opposites. Saurav on the one hand comes from a world of law enforcement where he is playing the role of a police officer, Dhiman on the other hand is a cold-blooded killer. He is very rugged and a man of few words which exactly was not the case with Saurav.
The briefing that I had received from Homi was that Dhiman is a very cold-blooded killer yet shy. If he wants he can say a lot in front of his enemies however when he's in front of Shanta, it's as if he forgets how to speak. When it comes to Rani Baa, he respects her a lot. He's very wise, he doesn't speak much in front of Savitri either however whatever he speaks is very calculated and has weight to it. I built up on that briefing and shaped Dhiman accordingly.
The series appears to be Women-Dominated, how did you balance your character with that of Dimple Kapadia?
Dhiman is as much a part of Rani Baa Corporation as any other woman, be it Kajal or Bijlee. I was playing my part in the series and in a way it was to support Rani Baa and not exactly balance it out because Dhiman as a person respects her a lot.
Did you feel overshadowed by anyone at any time while shooting?
No, I don't think so. I mean with Dhiman's character, I could've overshadowed everyone however, I'm not entirely sure of it. Dhiman can only be overshadowed by the Lead Rani Baa herself.
How did having an intimacy coach on the set improved the experience of shooting intimate scenes?
We had Aastha Khanna as our coach, she held workshops with me and Radhika before shooting the scenes. On set, it was very professional, and we had already decided to what extent will we go and what needed to happen. So we were very much comfortable. Homi on the other hand has a great aesthetic sense of shooting, so he captured it very beautifully.
How was the overall experience of shooting this series for you? What will be your most cherishable moments from Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo?
The bond that I shared with my Co-stars was really amazing. I will always cherish the shooting in the Haveli with all my co-actors in Jaipur, sharing food, sharing stories, and having that group bond. I think that's something that will always stay with me.
What's one thing that you'll change about Dhiman?
I love the character no doubt however, if there's one thing that I would like to change about him then it would be to make him more decisive. He should pick one side and stay with it. That's one thing that I find annoying. He is always conflicted with himself. He should either pick his love interest Shanta who is Rani Baa's daughter making it kind of an incestuous bond or he should pick Rani Baa's side and stick to that.
What do you expect from Season 2?
I expect more madness, more drama, and more character dynamics for sure.
What do you like about OTT as an actor and how do you think it has helped in contrast to mainstream Bollywood?
I believe that a lot of decisions for films are taken based on box office collection. With OTT, that whole aspect has been removed. There's a lot of scope to explore the character that we play now on OTT which we couldn't have done with mainstream films. I think the biggest factor to that is that we get eight to ten hours with web series in contrast to just two to three hours that we get with movies.
What are your future projects?
I have Excel Entertainment's 'Agni' lined up.