In a career spanning nearly 15 years, Richa Chadha has delivered a series of acclaimed performances in films like Gangs of Wasseypur, Masaan, Fukrey, Panga, and Madam Chief Minister, but the actress says she was never really offered characters that were more straight up and normal. So when she was approached by Ajay Devgn for the role of DCP Sudha Bhardwaj, an upright police officer, in The Great Indian Murder, it was an instant yes for Richa.
The Great Indian Murder has been taken from the pages of Vikas Swarup’s riveting novel, Six Suspects, which revolves around the murder of the son of a high-profile minister. Directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia, the show promises an intriguing mystery with a talented cast that includes Pratik Gandhi and Richa in the lead, along with Raghubir Yadav, Ashutosh Rana, Paoli Dam, Jatin Goswami, and Shashank Arora.
“I haven’t really got a chance to play straight up, normal characters. They are either abusive or very rural or ganglord-ish. This is perhaps one of the more straight and upfront characters I have played and she is also a very upright woman,” Richa said.
Talking about how she approached her role, Richa said, “My only brief from the director for this particular character was to play with her a lot of dignity. Now, playing a character with dignity doesn’t mean that she wouldn’t have a sense of humour or there won’t be any lighter moments in her life when something tragic has happened in her personal life. So keeping those nuances in mind, I tried to build a character…
“I think because of her sense of integrity I was guided in spirit by Sudha Bharadwaj. It’s always not possible that you do things for everyone’s good. Sometimes we all get personal and sometimes it’s for the love of our families. I definitely think that Sudha’s character guided me in which direction to go. As an actor, you are always told to create something new on every project. I’m playing an investigator here. I have to read between the lines and understand what people are saying and what they actually mean. So it was very tough to stay understated and perform in this male world where all the other (male) investigators are at (loggerheads). That world was really interesting for me. As always I feel like things could have been done better but I definitely think that the show will really be talked about,” the actress added.
The Great Indian Murder marks Richa’s reunion with her Gangs of Wasseypur co-star Tigmanshu Dhulia, who is directing the series and she couldn’t be more excited.
“I dreamt of working with Tigmanshu Dhulia since I came to Bombay. When we were working in Gangs of Wasseypur together as actors, we barely interacted. He was a very intense director. He made Haasil at that time so I was just keeping quiet and keeping my head down in front of him. But he is such a fun guy. He’s got a very different and unique worldview which has a certain sense of humour,” Richa said.
What appealed to her about the show? The actress said, “I don’t think it would have been possible to make this into a film because the material is simply too much. It has too many characters and too many knots to open and tie. When I was to do this and I received the screenplay, I was very curious to see how Pratik and my character would show up in the series because the characters that Pratik and I play in the series have been written keeping in mind the series format. These characters are separate from the book. I first thought I would read an episode before lunch and would sit with another episode in the evening but I ended up reading the entire screenplay in one go. I enjoyed it so much. I feel really happy that Ajay sir thought of me for this role because I really enjoyed working on this show. I feel it’s a casting coup because the show has such brilliant actors.”
The Great Indian Murder will start streaming on Disney+ Hotstar from 4th February onwards.
