Sandeepa Dhar, who made her grand debut with Rajshri Productions’ Isi Life Mein in 2010, took a two year long break from Bollywood and flew to Australia to learn and perform dance.
Sandeepa Dhar, who made her grand debut with Rajshri Productions’ Isi Life Mein in 2010, took a two year long break from Bollywood and flew to Australia to learn and perform dance. The actress was earlier seen in Global Baba this year and is now all set to surprise in her role as a fearless cop in 7 Hours To Go. In a quick chat, Sandeepa tells us about the challenging task of playing the role of a cop and working with Rajshri.
Unlike Isi Life Mein, your role in 7 Hours To Go is very experimental... I agree. It’s a completely different film for me. The movie is slightly into an Indian zone but it is different from what I’ve done in the past. I had no knowledge about how cops and the system functioned, earlier. I researched and studied a lot and it was challenging for me, as I had no reference. I actually met the ACP of Oshiwara police station, Dipti Shinde. I spent around a month with her, and learned how to use a gun and perform martial arts. I am glad that I got an opportunity to explore action in the film.
The title of the film is very intriguing, what is this thriller like It is an investigative thriller. I have just seven hours to save the hostages trapped. The movie has interesting twists and turns and will keep you hooked till the end.
How was the experience of performing action sequences on the sets It was actually exhausting. I do physical activities while performing dance on stage but action is very tiring. It was quite taxing shooting under the scorching heat at real locations such as Bhendi Bazaar amidst the crowd. But it is all worth it.
Post your debut, are you happy with the pace of your career To be honest, right after Rajshri’s Isi Life Mein, I flew to Australia for two long years. It was to disappear from Bollywood. A lot of offers were coming in, but I was too focused on my dancing. I had to cut off from films. When I came to India on vacation, I did Dabangg 2 and later I shot for Heropanti. I had signed an exclusive contract with my dance academy and got busy with shows. Later I signed Global Baba and 7 Hours To Go. I feel I did some interesting roles.
How did you react when Isi Life Mein bombed at the box office I felt very bad. If you put heart and soul in something you do, you tend to get attached to it. I wasn’t depressed because soon after the release, I got busy with the awards as I was nominated for best debut act that year. I moved on and enjoyed seeing big actors performing on stage.
Now that you are an actress, do you feel competent in the rat race I don’t see myself in any rat race. I am very choosy as I try to do content driven films; the story of my film matters. Actually, my perception has changed, maybe because I was away from filmdom. The roles I have done so far are very real and required no make up, so I am certainly not into glam roles. I won’t mind doing a glam role in which they required me to look so. I do films for enjoyment and not out of desperation.
Post your debut movie, didn’t Rajshri approach you for any other film While the casting of Prem Ratan Dhan Payo was happening here, I was in Australia. Soorajji (Barjatya) called me to audition for a role in the film, but I was so busy with my dance shows that I couldn’t even come to India to meet him. All of Rajshri is like my family. Soorajji, Rajat Sir, Vidhi; everyone is so special to me.
