Not playing second fiddle

Between them, Riteish Deshmukh and Ankita Lokhande, who are cast opposite each other, seem to make the story of Baaghi 3 happen. Both are Maharashtrians, are working together for the first time with Tiger Shroff, and do not mind playing second fiddle to the leads.

. Says Riteish, when I ask him about his character driving this story: “This is Nadiad’s (producer Sajid Nadiadwala’s pet name for his friends) and Tiger Shroff’s franchise, so when he offered me this film, I asked him, ‘What am I doing in it?’ He told me that Ahmed Khan would come and narrate the subject, and I loved it. This was something that I would love to see on the big screen.”

. Drama all the way

. He adds, “Then I also thought that Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol and John Abraham have all been a part of Akshay Kumar’s and my franchise Housefull . So how does it matter as long as the role is great and I am a part of a wonderful story? I am an actor who loves to work with as many actors, older, my age or younger, as possible. You get to learn so much, whether it’s with Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Sidharth Malhotra or Tiger.”

. Says Ankita, for whom television has been her passport to fame and this is just her second film after last year’s Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi , for which she received rave reviews, “I always wanted to do a commercial film. As Riteish’s good wife, I loved the chemistry between the four of us. This can be called a family drama, and our bond on the sets was equally great, with Riteish, Shraddha (a half-Maharashtrian) and I speaking in Marathi. Tiger too understands the language, though he prefers not to speak it.”

. She goes on, “If I like a script, I will do it. I am not running after a lead role, though in my next film, I do play the lead. I would like to do every good role offered to me. As long as my character makes a mark and I can do well, it’s fine.” Both accept that Baaghi automatically signifies action, but as Ankita puts it, “This time, audiences will get strong emotions too.” Riteish added, “I have done lots of films with me as one of the friends — including the Housefull , Dhamaal and Masti series. But I had never done a story of two brothers, whose relationship is unique — almost like a mother and son. One is weak, the other strong, and that attracted me. I could also relate to it as I have two brothers, and we too can go to any extent for each other, as in this film.”

. Strong appeal

. Ankita misses television but will not go back to it. “I do miss the 9 to 9 schedules, where you have to catch a nap on sets, your director changes almost every week so you have to develop your character, and that’s how I had worked on my character Aanchal in Pavitra Rishta (Ankita’s most famous show till date). But then, I was doing one character there for six years. Now I want to do many roles, try out this new medium in which everyone has been so welcoming.”

. She points out that television teaches an actor so much about acting. “As I am a restless person, initially, I found it unnerving to do a few shots only per day on a film set, and wait endlessly to be called. In movies, you have time to develop a character for weeks or even months.”

. Riteish has been trending while sporting a buzz cut. On the work front, he is planning two films but has just announced a trilogy on Chhatrapati Shivaji as a filmmaker and actor. “We plan to make it initially in Hindi and Marathi, but Shivaji’s father was in Karnataka for a good while, and there are connections even in Andhra Pradesh and other parts,” he notes. He goes on, “Part 1 will roll by the end of this year.” Coming from a different world, what does Ankita think of today’s hectic promotions? She laughs, as she is enjoying the whole thing. But Riteish rolls up his eyes and looks poker-faced as he replies, “A film is completed in 40 days, but we are contracted to do 50 days of promotions. Actually, we do the film for free, and get paid only for promoting the film.”

Not playing second fiddle

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