Kartik Aaryan on 'Dhamaka': "It was one of the most difficult roles of my career"

Actor Kartik Aaryan in 'Dhamaka'. The film was put together in just 10 days last December. (Image: screen grab)

Ram Madhvani may have taken 14 years to make his second feature film, but the impact and success of Neerja boosted the ad filmmaker-turned-Bollywood director to the upper half of the wishlist of those actors hungry for a challenge. Among them was Kartik Aaryan. The duo decided to collaborate on the Hindi remake of Korean thriller The Terror Live. Amruta Subhash and Mrunal Thakur were other actors added to the cast of Dhamaka, a film in which a terrorist is talking to an ambitious news anchor who in turn is being coached by his unscrupulous boss to keep ratings high. In the meanwhile Mumbai city is suffering and gripped by fear.

Also read: Review: Adapted from a Korean film, 'Dhamaka' is highly watchable

Madhvani put together the film during the pandemic, shooting it in 10 days and finishing it in an equally intense post-production schedule. Set largely in a TV studio, with a clutch of actors, it is undoubtedly the most challenging and nuanced role Aaryan has been required to play in his growing career. The actor and director speak about the making of this movie, which is now on Netflix.

Kartik, how did you prepare for the role of Arjun Pathak?

It was a really challenging role to pull off, and one of the most difficult roles of my career. We were able to complete the film in 10 days because most things were pre-planned. Lots of rehearsals and preparation went into it. The film was planned during the lockdown, so I only met Ram sir on video calls and did all my rehearsals and workshops through video calls. I had several conversations with news anchors and reporters and did studio visits. I spoke to radio jockeys on how they behave in a studio. The prep was virtual but I was totally into it - right from my look to how Arjun speaks. He is not a vanilla character. His moral compass wavers - from positive to negative – and I liked that about him. It makes him more real. I met Ram sir the day we got to set, which was too cool because everything was almost like a real, live studio.

Could you relate to the ambitious and wavering Arjun?

I could relate to how he is totally into his work and only thinking of his work.

But he goes way too dark for me. In real life, from my point of view, I would not go to that extent. That’s the beauty of the character - which is what attracted me – he does what he does, and you don’t know if he is positive or negative.

What was it like performing, almost solo, with so many cameras on you at once?

There were so many cameras on me. But it was a dream come true for me as an actor - to be in a situation where you are just in a room and given scenes to perform with 8-10 cameras rolling. Most of the film is in that studio room. And there are so many twists and plot turns, and a lot of that came together with direction, shot taking and building the thrilling moments.

It was also very difficult at times. Ram sir used my memory a lot – because I am good at memorising my lines – and we would shoot 15-20 pages at once, sometimes in a single shot of 15-20 minutes. It was exhausting and I would often return to my room feeling drained but I was happy too. There is a difference between a sad and angry exhaustion and a happy exhaustion, and the making of Dhamaka was a happy, satisfied exhaustion. It was so enriching and it gave my craft a new direction.

Ram, what was the process for the rest of the casting?

You see the work of some actors and say I want to work with her. That’s how I felt after I saw Amruta Subhash in Sacred Games, Gully Boy and a couple of Marathi movies. I had to have my team from Aarya nearby, so Vikas Kumar and Vishwajeet Pradhan are playing a cop and a politician, respectively. Vikas was the acting coach to get Amruta into a corporate space. Like Jim Sarbh in Neerja, you may hate the character, but you are enjoying the performance, and that is also the success of the performance. I had also wanted to work with Soham Majumdar after seeing his performance as Shiva in Kabir Singh.

Can you explain the idea behind the camerawork, which is shaky and frenzied at times and also goes into very tight close-ups at other times?

So since my first film, Let’s Talk, I don't do rehearsals. I am a fly on the wall, observing, capturing. It’s a bit of theatre with long takes. The actor has a before and an after and I have my 10 rules to get to the truth so the actor can be more comfortable. I am trying to capture spontaneity and energy, therefore frenzy. But when Raghuveer starts telling the story of his father, the camera is static. When the competing television channel is accusing Arjun Pathak, you see that camera through another camera. But it is also a thriller so there is an on-your-toes kind of frenzy. You need to feel anxiety; like in Neerja you felt claustrophobia. The audience needs to feel like they are in the room. But when that feeling is not needed, then the camera is still. As for the closeups, as Irvin Kershner said, there’s nothing more interesting than the landscape of the human face. And I am interested, and where else can I go, to capture the thunder and tears, which are happening on the face.