There is a sense of pride in Gitikka Ganju Dhar’s voice when she speaks about Dhurandhar. The actor plays Shabnam Jamali, a Pakistani politician’s wife in the espionage thriller. Stepping onto a set populated by Ranveer Singh, Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, R Madhavan, and Arjun Rampal can be both intimidating and inspiring. Yet, she feels differently. “The biggest star for me was the film’s director Aditya Dhar. We are both Kashmiri Pandits, and I keep telling him how proud we all are, as a community, of his craft as a director,” she says.
(L-R) Gitikka Ganju Dhar with Rakesh Bedi in the film
The director was the reason she said yes to the movie in no time. Remembering the casting call, she says, “The casting team said, ‘Dhurandhar by Aditya Dhar’, and I told them, ‘Don’t even ask me, just say yes!’” Working with Aditya was just as Gitikka had imagined. “Aditya explains thoroughly what one needs to do. After that, you have to deliver it with the energy he is looking for. He is centred and clear about what he wants.”
Gitikka’s character Shabnam was envisioned as a brash and overbearing woman. Paired opposite Rakesh Bedi, she says she felt the pressure to up her game. “I knew I had to pack a punch. In an excellent film, every element has to excel for it to truly [work].”