There is a role of a 90-year-old woman in this film so I told him no, no just say no because I don’t want to do a 90 year old now.
I definitely want to direct but I want to go into dive into it without the baggage of being an
actor perhaps at least for my first film and see what happens
There is a certain to some extent adjustment that you make and I am not saying adjust karlo like they say in society but just
Adapt. I think adapt
Adapt yes adapt. Two people can never be the same.
Once the lockdown is done you will see a line of boys outside ringing your doorbell
I am waiting
Because if this is
I will open the door myself
Joining me on Pinkvilla today is the cast of Sardar ka Grandson. The film is out on Netflix
and to begin with I watched the film and I want to tell you it is a blockbuster. It has action, it
has drama, it has comedy, it has romance, it has patriotism, it has last wishes, it has
everything that you know a masala Bollywood film has. To begin with when you read the script
when you heard the script of Sardar Ka Grandson what made you be part of the film?
When my manager came to me and he said that there is a role of a 90-year-old woman in
this film so I told him no, no just say no because I don’t want to do a 90 year old now and he
says listen to it once and after that, you say no. You should listen to it before saying no so I
said okay so I went to listen to the script thinking that I don’t want to do this and then
Kaashvi narrated and it went on and on and on she finished and I said when do you want to
shoot. It was like that. It just hit me like that and I think it’s a lifetime role it’s the most
challenging role I have ever done so that was it.
So when I heard it I felt the same emotion I have grandparents who have a history and a
past. My dada and dadi’s parents came from that side, from Pakistan and my grandparents
always spoke very fondly of those memories that they have. So there was an immediate
connect and along with that then Sardar is exactly like how my nani was. My nani was very,
very ferocious and very, very naughty exactly like how Neena ma’am has played Sardar.
When I was hearing it I could relive my childhood memories I could connect with the fact that
I think I have grown up in a joint family and most of us who have grown up in that
environment at least in the 90s it was still in vogue to be in the joint family.
So one of the biggest reasons was the emotional connect like you said your grandparents
were from Lahore likewise for me and I have grown up listening to those stories and my
dadu actually always wanted to visit his house but unfortunately, we couldn’t take him and
when I heard this I was like this could be a story of so many households and we could bring
smile on their faces and this film can emotionally touch upon, touch them then I want to be a part of something that is so heart-warming.
Are you’ll characters anything like you actually are in real life?
I have been told, now I am getting told more and more that apparently, Amreek is a fair
reflection of how my personality is. I don’t quite buy into it I am a little mature little more
mature than Amreek. A bit of a mumbling jumbling over smart buffoon. So I would say
towards the latter half of the film I can relate to Amreek he still a bit of a fool and he has still
got his clumsiness but his heart is in the right place. He has got his head on his shoulder by
the end of it. His humour is maybe me but I don’t think I am that insensitive and immature. I
would hope so but you guys can correct me but he was spoilt a lot by his grandparents in his
childhood so Sardar and Amreek so subconsciously there is an overlap of 50% for my character and me I would say.
What about you Neena Ma’am?
I think I am quite like her I mean when I am her age I wish I am the same but I am also a
little happy go lucky, I can’t stay sad for long, a bit naughty you shouldn’t say such things yourself but okay
Though I hate to admit but yes a part of me is like Radha. I am also a walking talking
timetable and I have OCD of time a little more fun than Radha than I want to believe. A part
of Radha which is more disciplined and which is very righteous I think.
I want to know what is the one most surprising thing you all learnt about each other?
It was surprising that all of us feel very cold.
Yes all of us feel cold
Such cold
I toh hate winters
More than the cold what surprised me was how calm Neenaji was see now that is a surprise
she was so calm and so she was dealing with it internally rather than externalising it I sometimes
tend to be cribber I keep complaining to my director when I saw Neena ma’am
being so calm in her prosthetic, wanting to sit on the spot on mark and want to do the whole
scene and it’s a long scene, Sneha. It’s about 7-8 pages of conversation. Not once did my
co-actor insinuate that let’s pick it up tomorrow, it’s not working and that is a nice surprise in the
sense you always expect it but it is nice to not hear any chu chu that always makes you more humble and work harder.
With Rakul the biggest surprise was that I didn’t realise how close to Radha in terms of how
particular and by the book she is but she is very thorough and proper.
The biggest surprise about Arjun was though I said he jokes and all but his sense of humour
and you know I would get drained if I was him who would constantly keep churning out jokes
and I knew he did it because he had to be in the element of Amreek. It’s not that he was
doing it just randomly of course there was sometimes random also but then sometimes he
will just like he is just trying to keep everyone energetic and you know just non-stop talking
I will say in short he became my grandson and one thing about Arjun is that he understands
the scene well. I think he should direct now. I feel it I am not saying just for the sake of it. I think he should.
No. no ma’am. Both of you’ll saying that I am also somebody who agrees and believes that I
will direct but now is not the time. Let me enjoy acting for a while so I can reach that stage
where I can think about directing I will take a little more time before I get to that
But you can do it on the sidelines also
Yeah but the thing is I am such a passionate person Sneha and I was so passionate about
Sardar Ka Grandson that I got into it. I am completely involved. So I think when I am
directing I would like to give it a 100% and I don’t know if I will be able to act while I am
directing. I am let’s say Ajay sir is someone who is acting and directing together. Farhan
does it I don’t know if I have that capability yet I am exploring to see how comfortable I am
also to see yourself and direct yourself is not easy I definitely want to direct but I want to go
into dive into it without the baggage of being an actor perhaps at least for my first film and see what happens.
In the film you have your dadi, you have Rakul, you have yourself sort of fall back on
because you know you are not going to fall apart. In real life, I want to know who these
people are in your life who will take you at your absolute worst like you can tell them take it
or leave it and they will be like okay fine we will take it as you are
I think we have all said that line at some point to somebody. I am like this. Take it or leave it.
I say it. I say it I think every week to my husband. I am like this. Take it or leave it.
I don’t think I have ever said it. I was going to say that. I have never said take it or leave it because
Really?
Yeah
Actually, I was just thinking when you all both said like when I have said it to anyone. I have
never said it. Because I feel I am the kind of person who feels that there is always a certain
but that’s Radha also in the film. There is a certain to some extent adjustment that you make
and I am not saying adjust karlo like they say in society but just
Adapt. I think adapt
Adapt yes adapt. Two people can never be the same. So if I want to eat dinner at 7 then I
will eat and you eat at 9 you know there is not a problem. There is not going to be a fight on
it like I am like this or I will do this with friends or with people that are around me
Right now all the boys who are seeing wow Rakul is the perfect girlfriend
But I am telling you I am. I would be. That’s another story
Definitely, once the lockdown is done you will see a line of boys outside ringing your doorbell
I am waiting
Because if this is
I will open the door myself
She will take it and she won’t leave it
Exactly
Take it or leave it is something you say in anger you don’t always mean it
And it is said to someone who you are not going to leave I am telling you
In my life, I have used it a million times knowing that I can take the other person for granted
knowing that it is wrong because it is temporary, it’s momentary. Sometimes you get
exasperated in friendships and family relations. I mean I have said to my father also, it happens.
I have said it to my friends so it’s not only a partner.
Sardar Ka Grandson was going to see a theatrical release but obviously, it didn’t happen
because of the pandemic. I want to know from each of you very quickly do you think OTT
platforms are the future of mainstream media now?
I won’t say it’s the future you know both the things would co-exist I mean right now none of us know the future.
I will give you an example when TV started at a large scale Ramayan, Mahabharata, saas-
bahu and all that people said book shops will shut down now kindle is here but books shops
never closed. We have book shops even today so it’s the same thing yeah
I think right now today we are in that place where you are sitting at home and ordering food
from outside but when the restaurants open we will all rush back out to eat in restaurants so
the same way you will eat at home sometimes you eat at home some days, sometimes you
order in or you go out. This is the age and society and life we lead we have options and OTT
is a great option for talent, for an artist, for consumers the sky is the limit. I mean there is
theatre why do we forget today that theatre is something that I feel is such an important part.
For an actor or creativity, I think platforms only allow you to do more and the population of
the world is so much that someone at some point will reach a theatre and those who don’t want to go will sit at home so
it’s okay.