Ajay Devgn starrer web show Rudra: The Edge of Darkness premiered earlier this month and it has received a positive response from the viewers. The crime-thriller also features Raashi Khanna, Atul Kulkarni, Esha Deol, Ashwini Kalsekar and Tarun Gahlot in pivotal roles. Actress and entrepreneur Amaara Sangam who essayed the role of a trauma victim, in one of the episodes of the web show, shared how she prepared for the character. She even shared about her scene with the series’ lead Ajay Devgn.
Talking about her role in Rudra, Amaara shared said, “I play the role of Shahnaz Daruwala in Rudra, she is a Parsi young mother of an infant. And the beauty is she’s so different from who I am. She’s very naïve, loving, easily trusting. Her child and husband are the centers of her world. The nature of the show is such, it was very important for me to understand her trauma response because everyone has a particularly unique way of responding given their life experiences. So, her trauma response is to freeze which is the bit that I found extremely relatable because far too many of us have the same response for trauma.”
The actress shared about her preparations for the role in Rudra, and said, “Given the nature and how intense the episode is going to be, I knew the fact that it is an Ajay Devgn show, and it is the first time an A-lister is coming on OTT, and I knew there would be a lot of eyeballs on it. I prepped because the responsibility was a lot more than in any other project that I’ve done up until now. Because the nature of the show was intense, I wanted to make sure that I prepared well so that I can on said I don’t want to be thinking of second-guessing even one movement. So, I studied a lot about trauma, about how trauma works. I consulted my sister who is essentially worked as a character analyst with me. So, I studied a lot about my responses on the physicality of it –e ven a gag in my voice while playing the character.”
On being asked about sharing the screen space with Ajay Devgn in Rudra, Amaara shared that she was looking to share the screen with the Tanhaji actor, but because of the changes in schedule, she couldn’t do it.
She said, “I was actually looking forward to sharing the screen space with Ajay Sir, and we were supposed to shoot just one scene together which didn’t happen eventually because of his schedule change. We had to shoot it separately and make it sort of seem that we were in the same scene together. Even he said I knew that he was shooting some other scenes at that point, I wasn’t allowed to step out because I had prosthetic make-up on, so I couldn’t let it get exposed until my scene was on. So, I didn’t really get to share the screen with Ajay Sir, but I shared the screen space with K.C Shankar who is a brilliant actor who was my costar essentially as I was playing a victim and he was playing the criminal.”
Amaara shared how sharing the screen space with the Looop Lapeta actor has been a memorable experience for her. She said, “He is seen in lots of shows. He was in rocket boys and he’s a brilliant actor. “It was great being in the space of someone who’s been around for as long as he has. And he really gets into the character well. So, sharing the screen with someone who really puts so much effort into their character was really good. Also, no matter how big or small my part is, I do it to the best of my ability and give it a lot of time, energy, and effort. While on sets, we were bouncing off each other, and often during the shoots, we were so relaxed that we snapped out of our characters and laughed about things.”
“It was really interesting to see someone’s process and method so up close, and then to see how it translates on screen. I see the benefit of working with a co-star who really gets into his character and makes an effort to sort of bounce off their co-stars in terms of energy and effort as well. So, we were doing a lot of rehearsals, we were talking a lot about the industry the arts, the craft and theatre. It was a very inspiring space, and I think that is why that vibe comes through on screen for sure,” added Amaara.
Rudra: The Edge of Darkness is a psychological crime drama. It is a remake of the British TV show Luther which features Hollywood actor Idris Elba as the titular character which also got him a Golden Globe Award. Rudra is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
