They break out with sound and fury

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They break out with sound and fury

Saturday, 21 September 2019 | Ayushi Sharma

They break out with sound and fury

Actors Sobhita Dhulipala and Emraan Hashmi have trodden a new path with their latest web series Bard of Blood, says Ayushi Sharma

While a former Miss India is riding high on the success of her recent show Made in Heaven, the moniker of the other is a ‘kissing star,’ who has traversed a long distance to break out of that image. No prizes for guessing the names of Sobhita Dhulipala and Emraan Hashmi. The two have come together as co-actors for a web series Bard of Blood, adapted from the eponymous book by Bilal Siddiqi, where the former is a courageous analyst and the latter is an ex-communicated RAW agent. They take up a covert mission in Balochistan when four Indian spies are captured by the Taliban.

Both the actors are breaking new grounds in their career with this one and they seem to have enjoyed every bit of it. Sobhita had no references while preparing for the role but in a way the conflicts that her character goes through are very relatable not only for her but for every girl who is trying to find her place in a man’s world. And having to prove so many people wrong even before you can actually test your own merits is something that many women go through everyday — even though the terrain might not be as hostile. Apart from that, Sobhita, of course, on account of the content, had to do a lot of physical prep. While the action was new, it was not difficult for her to be a part of it.

When Sobhita speaks her mind, her non-assertive manner, calming voice creates an aura that exude purity which is heightened by the white saree she is wearing. The actor is somebody who loves to punch above her weight and sink her teeth in a good role. “The reason I actually enjoyed it so much was because of its newness, relatability and emotional intelligence. Yes, it’s a huge transition from Tara to Isha but I am an actor playing different roles and that is what my motivation is. I am curious about people, why they do what they do. Even if for a brief while, I get a chance to live my life differently, I am going to take it up. So for me, between action and cut, I am free. I am at home,” says she. Her transformation is evident in reality too by how, from Tara to Isha, she has become an outspoken extrovert from a painfully shy person.

For Emraan too, there were no reference points. He tried to understand the psyche by what the writer or the director guided him or what was written. Also his love for spy thrillers helped. He has been watching them for a long time, so it was present in his subconsciousness. He believes that it helped him in playing the character of Kabir Anand. The actor saw a lot of interviews of ex-military spies and one thing that really made a mark on him was that you wouldn’t really understand a spy or know what fear feels like until you have actually worked as one in an enemy nation. “You have a dual identity where you play someone else, speak a different language in another country and at any moment, you could slip and find a bullet shot in your head. It could simply be because something that you wore was wrong or a slight difference in the way you speak their language. That’s true fear and that was a big takeaway for me to understand the psyche of Kabir. I had to get into that zone where these guys travelled to Balochistan and it felt like they are walking on a mine field,” says he.

The role was as challenging for him as a first step for a toddler. He says that getting into a different format was new but this one has its own struggles. “The kind of action that we have in the show was physically exertive. I haven’t played anything even close to it. Acting in a series was almost like doing two films in 90 days. So that’s a lot of work. But a great team makes it happen. Everyone was very supportive. We all felt that we were in safe hands. The journey became much easier,” he says.

Sobhita was more invested in the emotional graph of the characters than the factual one. Of course, it’s fiction but a fictional story often borrows its essence from certain real incidences. She agrees that it reflects some of it as reality but doesn’t necessarily “represent” it. “Because these are real characters going through emotions which we have experienced sometimes. We all have disagreements and feel anger or even paranoia,” says the actor.

She is an observer, a prolific writer and a reader of verse but doesn’t advertise all of this often. Small instances and experiences from her own life had helped her play Isha. “I think that sense of mentally travelling to places and constantly observing, something that’s my arena since I was a child, has backed me. I have used some of that and looked at how people get trapped in a situation, how they react emotionally or what their body language is when they do a specific thing. I didn’t particularly research on the political aspect of it,” she says.

The film industry has had a fair share of spy thrillers. While some slipped under the radar, there have been films that were memorable for many reasons. And again, there’s a sudden surge of interest in this kind of genre and content. The recent ones being Tiger Zinda Hai and The Family Man. Sobhita and Emraan respond swiftly one after the another. Though I was expecting an answer from Sobhita first, she, instead, within the blink of an eye, puts forward a question, “Hey, I am asking you! You are the media, I don’t know!” And then says that maybe, it’s because people think there should be more information. Emraan adds, “I don’t think Indian cinema has really dabbled with a lot of subjects of this kind till this point. The kind of films that have been made on spies can be counted on the fingers of one hand.” Sobhita nods in agreement and says, “The ones that are made are so fantastic that people crave a sense of realism even if it is peppered with fiction. I don’t think there’s any agenda to put out a show like this that ‘we are going to give this certain message’.

Emraan feels that it is more intriguing than a film on the Army or the Air Force. “I think spies have a different kind of intrigue associated with them. It’s not in your face but there are a lot of unsung heroes who have been spying for our country and it’s not shocking anymore that you do not know their names. They extract a wealth of political, social information from enemy territory and transfer it home. But we still don’t know much about them and their journey. And it’s because it’s not written about by the media. When you make a film or an original series, it’s very engaging because it’s an unknown world. We probably know more about the Army because it’s there in your face through the information about it in the media. But this is also a no man’s land. And a place that I wish to explore more,” says Emraan. Sobhita believes that the reason why people are more interested is also because the story acts like a real mirror and of course, increases one’s curiosity.

(The series will release on September 27 on Netflix.)

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