Exclusive! Drashti Dhami on the OTT series Duranga: It was more taxing mentally, emotionally, and physically than TV

Drashti Dhami spoke about her transition from TV to OTT, starring in a limited series, playing a cop for the first time and more.

Drashti Dhami/Instagram

After entertaining audiences for a decade with her television stint, Drashti Dhami forayed into the OTT space with the Disney+ Hotstar series The Empire. The talented actor played the role of Khanzada Begum in the period drama. After nearly a year, the actor's new OTT series, titled Duranga has finally premiered on ZEE5 and she plays the role of a cop. The actor is seen opposite Gulshan Devaiah in the series created by Pradeep Sarkar.

Ahead of the release of Duranga which is the Indian adaptation of the K-Drama, Flower of Evil, Drashti spoke exclusively to OTTplay about her transition from TV to OTT, starring in a limited series, playing a cop for the first time and more.

Excerpts below...

What made you say yes to the show?

Firstly, of course, because it was an adaptation of a Korean show, which was for the first time, and it's interesting to be a part of something like that. Secondly, the story, the character that I was playing, something that I've never played before, playing a cop, was something that was really interesting to me to say yes to. When we were working with legends like Pradeep Sarkar, you didn't want to say no, and Goldie Behl, Aijaz Khan, and the great Gulshan Devaiah were with me. I swear, when I got to know him, I was a little nervous because he is such a good actor. Sharing the screen with him was something that I was really nervous about.

Was it kind of refreshing for you as an actor to star in a series that has a very limited run time compared to television, where you can shoulder a series for more than 100 episodes?

Of course, it was refreshing. But I think this was more taxing mentally, emotionally, and physically. Because here you just have these nine episodes to show whatever you have to show and you don't really get the time to switch from one thing that's going on to the other. On TV, you still take your time; for example, a girl living with her parents takes a while before moving on to the next stage of her life. Here, everything is in nine episodes, everything is short in these limited three months or two months. So it is taxing because I think the way of working here is very different and the process is very different. There's a lot of pre-production that we do on our side. We sit and do reading, we sit and enact scenes, which I've never done before. When we started doing reading the lines, I just didn't know if everyone would be in their zone of reading lines, like just reading them.

I would get a little anxious because I wouldn't know on the day how I was going to play it. Will I play it correctly? Am I going to do it properly? But I think when we all sat and we did the reading and kept rehearsing, it's only on the day when I shot that I realised that me doing those scenes 10 times might do the scene very differently on the 11th time because I had understood all the means and ways of doing it. Then I finally picked from everywhere very subconsciously, not like the way I said this line was better than this take. It just organically all came together really well. So this was a different process. I think OTT is a very different process when it comes to shooting because everyone sits and discusses and keeps discussing the scenes. I think after doing it for the 10th time, we're like, "Okay, now we'll switch to another scene." It was a new experience for me, and I completely enjoyed it.

This is an adaptation of the Korean show, Flower of Evil. So did you catch up with the original?

Actually, it was very consciously that we didn't see it, but we never discussed that. Should we watch it together or not? Should we watch the show to understand? I think we wanted our own take on it because we have localised it. We made it more Indian. These are just our kinds of characters, our kinds of festivals, and the kinds of household issues that we've incorporated into the show. In a certain way, if you see that scene, and then you feel I didn't do it how it was,

There's a Korean wave happening in the country right now, and a lot has been said about the adaptations of movies and shows from different languages across the globe. People are bashing it, and there are those who give it the benefit of the doubt. What's your take on that?

Why not, in my opinion? I mean, there are a lot of people who want to watch a lot of entertainment. If it's made well, it's really nice, and it's a remake, but it's still different from the original lineup.

How did Gulshan Devaiah and you break the ice?

He is a very warm person when you meet him. I think he kind of must have got a little sense when I entered the room. I'm thinking of going to a new place and meeting new people. I think he was very nice. He's very comforting and very warm. We started reading lines and enacting scenes... We got along; there was no ice-breaking moment or so.

Was it a relief to not use much glycerine this time?

I am OK with that.

You started off with OTT with The Empire and now with Duranga. Both those roles are poles apart. What do you have to say about this format? Does it give you a kind of hope of getting to play a variety of roles and different characters?

Honestly, I've enjoyed doing what I've done in the past also. Of course, this is something different that I'm doing. It's not a hope, but I'm getting to play more characters, and Khanzaada was very different from Ira. But what I've done in the past also, I've never felt like, "Oh my god, I'm just doing the same thing again and again." Of course, it is like that. But I've enjoyed all those characters as well. But yes, Khanzaada to Ira was very different because The Empire was still a lot of drama, a lot of poise, a lot of drama, even when you're talking. This was how I was talking right now, and that is something that I feel is very difficult.

How do you switch off and switch on a character?

It's just there when you're on set. When you're just with the team and you're just about to get into a scene, unless and unless it's like an intense scene, I would like to not talk to people for that little bit. But not like after when I go home, I take it back with me because I think once it's off, it's off. You come back on set, you get into the clothes, and you have the script in your hand. Once you're on set, you know this is the look and feel, so you just get into it.

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