EXCLUSIVE | Aditi Rao Hydari: 'Knew all the mummys, everyone is going to text me when I gave a red rose to Dharmendra'

Aditi Rao Hydari, Taha Shah, and Shubham Kumar Mehra are gearing up for the grand release of Taj: Divided By Blood on Zee5. And in an exclusive interview with Firstpost, get hilariously candid on all the questions that were thrown at the terrific trio. The interview happened on the 18th of February and when asked about the 14th anniversary of her Bollywood debut Delhi-6, Aditi says, “No, it was much before that. I first did a Tamil film that never released only. But I actually think I started in 2011 because that was my proper role in Yeh Saali Zindagi.” Shubham joins the conversation and tells Aditi, “You were spectacular in Rockstar,” to which the actress quips, “That was edited out a lot by the way.”

On being asked on her experience of playing Anarkali, she says, “It feels amazing to play such an amazing character. Also, a girl in the 16th century who stood up against the emperor. She stood up for love, loyalty, and truth. That’s quite a fearless and spirited character. This role has already been done by an iconic, incredibly, there are no words, in a film that’s timeless. Taj is quite different from that. This is less daunting and more exciting for us since it’s a new material. It was very different.”

Taha Shah then answers about his character of Murad. He says, “I’m very grateful. When you come as an outsider and have seen a lot of struggle, and want to do something that’s uncommon and you hardly get a chance to do that, something like Taj is truly a blessing. My excitment level is okay. People tell me I don’t emote much when something good happens. I’m sure the show will be definitely successful, it’s a unique screenplay. This isn’t a story about Salim or Anarkali, or Anarkali or Akbar, there’s also Daniyal and Murad. We have politicians, we have queens. Kudos to the writers.”

Shubham then says his character of Daniyal is extremely sensitive. He adds, “Very conflicted. He has no anchor. Through this medium I would like to say that 2-3 comments on the trailer were such that I didn’t like at all. They wrote that this character is reading Namaaz in one scene and becoming a gay in the next scene. First of all, nobody becomes a gay, you are homosexual. Your feelings are different right from your childhood, not wrong, just different. Love is universal, but history keeps changing. Our writers have done their research so please don’t take this character of Daniyal in a wrong direction.”

The trio blooms when asked about working with veterans like Dharmendra and Naseeruddin Shah. Aditi takes the question first. “None of us worked with Dharam sir before but he was amazing in the trailer. And the other day when we met him at the logo launch, and he was so handsome. I gave him a red rose also and I knew all the mummys, everyone is going to text me. With Naseer sir we worked a lot and it was incredible. What I liked the most about him was that he doesn’t sit on a pedestal and expect others to tiptoe around him. He works with us to make the scene better and more engaging.”

Taha then elaborates, “My first interaction happened with him when we met at a script reading session and these two were five minutes late. Sir looked up at all of us and took all of us in. I made my voice a little deeper while rehearsing with him. I was inspired by him throughout the show. He told me he likes doing plays and playing different characters, and if I had any script, I should send it to him. That’s what I like about him.”

Shubham’s version is the funniest. He exclaims, “Meeting him was reminiscent of a 16-year old girl experiencing love for the first time. It felt like mere saare paap dhul gaye. I genuinely felt so much love for him since he’s such a legendary actor. This is my wish and hope that when I turn 72-73, I can also talk about my wife with as much love and warmth as he does. He has not been able to be a part of the promotions since he promised his wife he would take her for a vacation. This is just so beautiful. And now I should stop.”

Aditi on joking about attracting royal characters

This is not a joke. I meant it for real. And I listen to my director and love what I do. When you work with incredible directors, you just soak in everything they speak about. I’m a director’s baby and I like challenges and being pushed, and also being nurtured. You have to be constantly pushed and challenged, you have to be on your toes and wait for that glit in their eye. I love period love stories, but it’s really about the process of making a film, the director.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.