Bhumi Pednekar and Rajkummar Rao didn’t have any problem playing queer roles: Harshavardhan Kulkarni on ‘Badhaai Do’ – Times of India

Director Harshavardhan exclusively talks to ETimes about the kind of response ‘Badhaai Do’ trailer has received.

Excerpts:

How has the response to the trailer been?


It has been very brilliant! My marketing team just told me that it’s still trending and it doesn’t usually trend for so long. It’s doing really well and general comments, and calls the whole team, including me and our actors are getting, are very heartening, I must say.

Any specific response that stands out?


Nahi yaar… ek mention karunga toh baki ko bura lagega. A lot of people from the film industry itself who don’t know me at all, have called me. You know it takes an effort to pick up a phone and look for your number to call. It feels good that all senior and important people have felt the need to do that.

Tell us about your preparation for the film…


It’s just my second film and the preparation was no different. It is based on the queer community, hence the only thing is we took care of was to have a script consultant on board. We only did it to avoid double guessing a lot of things. You know, while writing the film we started to live the lives of the characters and we were so much into their shoes, not just the queer ones but all of them, that we started thinking like them. That was the whole process.

When we showed our scenes to the script consultant, you won’t believe but we were 100% on point about the situation. After writing the film, we gave it to a group of the queer community and even sent it to our friends for a diverse opinion. We added things that we might have overlooked and so on…This was done all because we have to be careful and sensitive. If not properly executed, things could have blown out of proportion. What I believe is, just because I am not aware of something doesn’t mean it’s okay. That’s what we have tried. We got a little feedback even 10 days before finalising the film. Hopefully, our thing will be 99.95% free of things that could be wrong.

Did you face any problems in the process?


No, not really and I think we are blessed. While writing and researching usually there are people to aid you. During the casting process, all the actors were on board. They didn’t have any problem playing queer people, infact they were so enthusiastic. Likewise, there was no problem when the shooting happened.

Did you always wanted to cast Bhumi Pednekar and Rajkummar Rao?


It wasn’t like everything was written with them in my mind. If you ask me if they were the perfect ones to do this role, my answer would be 200% yes. Without a doubt, I can’t imagine anyone else doing it at all. Raj is a sensational actor who is terrific in everything that he does. In a very limited time, he had to transform his body in a very natural way. On top of it, he is a hardcore vegetarian, it gets tougher but he did it diligently.

And, Bhumi’s character is someone who is very fiery but again vulnerable at the inner core, something that she has adopted as her defence mechanism. It had a perfect balance or else it could have become a very sensitive character or even cocky. I kept saying, ‘Oh my god, this woman is so good’, not only on the sets but also during our edit meets. I couldn’t think that Sumi and Shardul could have been anyone but these two.

Must be a great working experience…


I can’t even tell you… I keep hearing people praising Bhumi and Rajkummar. I just tell them that maine kuch nahin kiya, jo kiya inhone hi kiya. All I had to do was tell them the scene and they were there, and of course, the script was on point. Then came the improv that these two brought in, not just these two but everyone in our ensemble was great. While you will not find our entire cast in the trailer this time we also had a new face from North East, Chum Darang who is sensational. She has never acted before but when I saw her audition, I was just impressed. The way she picked things up, it was a done deal.

My cast members were so sharp that I had to be on my toes because I know how intelligent they are in their field. I think that’s why they performed so well.

Would you like to share a fun memory with your team?


We had fun moments every day. The camaraderie between all of us was so good. Raj and Bhumi have a very different sense of humour and they were crazy on the set. They are team players. The film was also shot during the COVID-19 pandemic, so hotels were always empty. Our entire unit of 200-300 people was put up in one hotel and it became our place. That hotel has also given us a send off with a musical night, can you believe it? Everything was on the house! Who does it? I think the heart was in the right place.