Anshuman Pushkar, Wamiqa Gabbi get candid on their upcoming web series Grahan

Anshuman Pushkar and Wamiqa Gabbi are all set to play lovers in Ranjan Chandel’s upcoming web series Grahan. The show, which also features Zoya Hussain and Pavan Malhotra in the lead roles, is a love story with secrets. It marks Wamiqa’s debut in the Hindi film industry and Anshuman’s first-time pairing with her.

Revealing why he was better prepared to audition for Grahan than any other project, Anshuman said, “I got a call from Mukesh Chhabra’s agency, so I auditioned. I knew the briefing for the character very well. I was very interested since it belonged to the region. I prepared better than any audition I had for, previously.”

The project happened to Anshuman after Jamtara’s success. “After Jamtara only. I had a very different character from that web series. I really want to thank Ranjan (Chandel) sir (director) for considering me for the project,” he said.

Wamiqa said she bagged the project and found director Ranjan 'weird' on their zoom call. “I had auditioned even before the pandemic.It was believed that the lockdown was going to come to an end in August back then. I was shortlisted and I met Ranjan sir on Zoom, where he was behaving very weird and not talking to me. I kept wondering and told him my stories. In my first meeting with them, I had the best one hour of the process when he read the novel,” the actress revealed.

She added, “There were so many pretty moments and magical experiences. There was a time when me, Anshuman and Ranjan sir looked at each other with tears in our eyes. I wanted to play her character whole-heartedly. Imagine how awesome she would be that I wish to be like her, even if we don’t have any similarities at the moment.”

Wamiqa, who has now worked in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Punjabi and Hindi cinema, says it isn’t tough but fun to switch between them. “It’s fun. I really like it. I like to be in Chennai, Kerala, Punjab and Mumbai. I am from Punjab but somehow I love working in the South industry and I love that I keep switching so it doesn’t keep me glued to one culture or way of working. I still don’t understand Tamil, Telugu or Malayalam. Sometimes you just feel lost and that feels like bliss,” she shared.

Before Grahan, Ranjan made his debut in direction with the Marathi movie Bamfaad, which also released on Zee5 recently. Talking about the project, he shared, “We made it for a theatrical release but by the time it was ready, the world changed and there was a pandemic which is why it was released on OTT. It was my debut film and everybody made their debut with the film. It was because of OTT that we reached such a wide audience. One lakh people watching the film every day after release wouldn’t be possible with a theatrical release. It was a big advantage for us.”

Grahan is slated to release on Disney+Hotstar on June 24.