Sanghmitra Hitaishi talks about the challenges of shooting for ‘Dahaad’ amidst the Covid-19 pandemic and her working experience with Vijay Varma, Sonakshi Sinha and Gulshan Devaiah.
Sanghmitra Hitaishi is best known for her work in projects like Netflix’s ‘Bombay Begums’, Disney+ Hotstar’s ‘Out Of Love’, ‘Lajwanti’, ‘B.A. Pass 2’, National Film Award-winning short films ‘Custody’, ‘Chidiya Udh’, the successful Spanish film ‘El Desentierro’ and many others.
She will be next seen in Amazon Prime Video’s ‘Dahaad’ helmed by showrunner and director Reema Kagti and Ruchika Oberoi. The show stars Sonakshi Sinha, Vijay Varma and Gulshan Devaiah in the lead roles. It is also the first Indian web series to compete at the Prestigious Berlin International Film Festival.
Expressing her joy on ‘Dahaad’ premiering at the Berlin International film festival Sanghmitra Hitaishi says, “It feels like coming home. I have had a long association with Berlinale, my journey as an actor began there as my first film in the lead role premiered at Berlinale, then I was the first female actress from India to be selected for Berlinale talents ever, it’s a mentorship programme that has had Gauri Shinde, Ritesh Batra, Chaitanya Tamahne, Pitobash as former talents, it feels proud to be a part of such an esteemed company. Dahaad becoming the first web series to be selected there truly feels incredible.”
Describing her working experience with Sonakshi Sinha, Vijay Varma, Gulshan Devaiah and others she tells, "I knew Gulshan from before through common friends, so there was a familiarity and he is one of the smartest actors I know and is extremely funny. He is constantly making everyone laugh. Working with Vijay was easy because he is a very giving actor and despite ‘Gully Boy’ and ‘Mirzapur’ being such mammoth hits, he was very humble on sets, and a bit shy too. Sonakshi Sinha and I did not spend much time together on set but whenever she was around, she was fun.”
Sharing about the challenges and preparation of playing the character she reveals, “Shooting and prep for ‘Dahaad’ began just before Covid hit, so the production stopped midway, most of our rehearsals and workshops happened through zoom, which was a bit sad because, during workshops, we connect with our co-actors develop bonding, build our characters and that couldn’t happen but we managed because that was the demand of the time. You know as an actor you land a good role, and you are about to work with the director you deeply admire, and then a virus comes along and stops everything. It was heartbreaking because you fear that what if the project gets shelved, what if they replace me, those were my insecurities but it turned out really well and I am proud of ‘Dahaad’.”
She continues, “I had to change my hair colour three times in three months for the role which was crazy because I was simultaneously shooting for ‘Out Of Love 2’, and there was a continuity that I had to follow with Mandira’s character for ‘Out Of Love’. It certainly was hectic. Despite the challenges of being an actor, I am grateful that I get to do this every day of my life. It’s worth all the challenges," she signs off.