Exclusive! Kadak Singh actress Jaya Ahsan: Who would say no to a film that has Pankaj Tripathi in it?

Bangladeshi Jaya Ahsan is known to be an ambitious actress who takes her work very seriously. When Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, aka Tony, offered her a role in Kadak Singh, she had no reason to think twice. “Who would, especially when you know you would work with Pankaj Tripathi? Also, working with Tonyda was on my wishlist for a long time,” said the actress. In a candid chat with OTTplay, Jaya talked about her Bollywood debut, Kadak Singh, which will be dropped on Zee5 on December 8.

Is Jaya ready for the big Bollywood release? “I will be in Delhi for a screening and then go to Mumbai for another one. Finally, I will be back in Kolkata on the day of release,” she said.

Debut in Hindi

After starting her acting career in Bangladesh, Jaya also focused on working in the Bengali film industry in Kolkata for more than a decade. Kadak Singh takes her to a broader audience in India. “We hear a lot of intimidating things about Bollywood. But when I started working, I realised it was a warm place to work in. Besides, working with Tonyda was easy. I was familiar with the team. Not only was the team efficient, they were sensitive. That helped a great deal. There was a lot of good energy. Now if the people – our audience – notice my work, I will be super happy,” she said.

Hindi language and other challenges

Jaya had to take special care to improve her Hindi. “I could speak Hindi but prepared extra for this character. Moreover, the entire film was done in sync-sound. I had no scope to improve or fix things while dubbing. Hence I had to work extra hard,” the actress said.

Also read: Pankaj Tripathi intrigues with his intense gaze in Kadak Singh’s first look and ends up solving the mystery behind his bizarre Instagram live 

Language was a challenge for Jaya but that was not the only challenge. “I did not know my co-artistes at all. I’ll tell you why this was a challenge for me. I am an instinctive actor. I am not known to prepare in front of a mirror. I consciously avoid that. I don’t know how I look when I am in front of a camera. I don’t know which angle suits me better. And I believe that being active is collaborative work. Hence, for me, it is important to know the co-actors. So that I know their improvisations and act. In such a situation, I started working with Pankaj Tripathi. He is an acting institution. But that’s just a part of him. He is a responsible actor who makes sure the co-actors are comfortable. Once I was on the floor, everything became easy. And once I got on to my mode, the weight of Pankaj Tripathi’s name did not occur to me anymore,” she said.

Also read: Kadak Singh trailer: Pankaj Tripathi delivers YET ANOTHER winning performance in a film that mirrors Retrograde Amnesia 

Talking about her character, she said, “It is an important character and a very empowering one. I have never worked on anything like this before,” she said. Talking about preparations, Jaya said that the director made things easy. “Kadak Singh has a thriller background but it tells a story of human relationships. Tonyda makes things very easy throughout. He starts it in the time of workshops. We talk, chat, and have rounds of tea and our conversation builds character. He does not teach you how to act. Actors who talk with him imbibe the character through the conversation. He doesn’t change things much during the shoot,” the actress said.