Wamiqa Gabbi: 'Charlie Chopra should be solving a lot more mysteries'

Vishal Bhardwaj's debut OTT series 'Charlie Chopra and the Mystery of Solang Valley' will start streaming on SonyLIV from September 27.

Writer-director-composer Vishal Bhardwaj’s first full-fledged web-series, Charlie Chopra and the Mystery of Solang Valley, is an official adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel, The Sittaford Mystery (1931). The SonyLIV (from September 27) show has an eclectic cast, including Naseeruddin Shah, Gulshan Grover, Ratna Pathak Shah, Neena Gupta, Lara Dutta and a host of young actors. Among them are Wamiqa Gabbi (Jubilee), who plays the titular character of Charlie Chopra, a young detective investigating a murder in the Solang Valley, and Priyanshu Painyuli (Mirzapur), who plays local news reporter Sitaram.

Painyuli and Gabbi spoke about working on an Indian adaptation of an Agatha Christie whodunnit. Edited excerpts:

Priyanshu Painyuli

Priyanshu Painyuli and Naseeruddin Shah in a still from 'Charlie Chopra & The Mystery of Solang Valley'.

How pivotal to the story is your character, Sitaram?

In every detective story, the journalist is always one of the integral and tricky guys who comes in to spoil the investigation or to add to the investigation. In any mystery investigation, apart from the detective and the cop, there is usually also a reporter. Sitaram is a local guy, from Himachal Pradesh. He’s ambitious, energetic and wants to reach a top news channel in New Delhi. Sitaram may or may not be connected, he may be harbouring secrets, he's funny and cunning. This is one of my most interesting roles. I have really experimented with this guy. I'm speaking very differently, within the typical Himachali, Pahadi accent. It was great jamming with Vishal sir on how to interpret this part. Though this is an Agatha Christie murder mystery, it has been adapted by Vishal Bhardwaj and I knew I wanted to work with him. For me there's the film industry, and then there is a Vishal Bhardwaj industry. The way he writes, sings, directs, composes music, what he does with his actors and the way he looks at cinema. He makes every character and every scene memorable.

What was the most challenging or interesting aspect of playing this part?

One was making him authentically local so people connect the language. You see Manali through him because of the way he's dressed and the way he speaks. I spent time in Manali speaking to locals, sitting in the market or chatting to tea vendors. I spent time there before the shoot to get a deeper feel for the locales and their culture, speech etc. From a personality point of view, I wanted to build him into this energetic, loud person which I am not in real life. He’s also a fox sometimes and then turns into a monkey and then back to a fox. There were lots of variations.

Are you a fan of murder mysteries and of Agatha Christie?

I have been a fan of detective series. In my younger days Tintin was my favourite character -- that young boy trying to solve cases and mysteries around the world with his dog. Closer to home, there were Byomkesh Baksi and Karamchand which we used to watch on TV. Also, I watched Scooby Doo, Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes. More recently, I have seen all the movie adaptations of Agatha Christie stories, though I have not read the books. Detective series are special because you see the case from the mind of the detective. These stories are not just about who did it, but also how it was done. Even in Charlie Chopra, I'm sure you will not be able to guess who's done it but even if you do, how it is done is the most interesting part.

What else have you got coming up?

I have just been shooting for the last two years and things are now coming out at last. After Charlie Chopra there will be some Amazon Prime shows starting with Shehar Lakhot in which I am the lead. It’s a noir thriller by Navdeep Singh. Then there’s Mirzapur 3 which has lots of shocks and surprises. A third Amazon show called Bak Bak by Raja Menon, is a comedy and then there's Pippa, a war film with Ishaan Khattar, Mrunal Thakur and me. I am going to start shooting some other things soon.

Wamiqa Gabbi

Wamiqa Gabbi as the titular Charlie in a still from 'Charlie Chopra & The Mystery of Solang Valley'.

You play the titular character. But who is Charlie Chopra? 

She's a very cool person. The series is a murder mystery about this girl who becomes a detective. She's from Punjab. When you see the series you'll see that this is not your regular who-done-it. This is an Agatha Christie story but adapted by Vishal Bhardwaj, which means it has dark humour. It is a very nice combination and so much fun. Charlie Chopra is also breaking the fourth wall and when she does, she talks to the audience in Punjabi.

Does this mean there could be more Charlie Chopra adventures?

I hope so. If our show gets a lot of love, then definitely. I feel Charlie Chopra should be solving a lot more mysteries.

Are you a fan of Agatha Christie or generally, a fan of detective novels?

I don't read books a lot. Although my father is a writer, I am that person who reads two pages and falls asleep. But I am a big fan of crime documentaries and all those interrogation videos on YouTube. Detective stories are all about interrogation and observation so after watching all those videos, to play a detective and to interrogate other people was pretty good. I think this show is the best combination of the queen of murder mysteries, Agatha Christie, and the adaptation by Vishal Bhardwaj, with this cast. The one thing I would say is that it’s not just a whodunnit, or a mystery or a serious drama. Audiences will also have a lot of fun.

What was it like shooting in the cold of Himachal Pradesh?

It was really cold. I remember on the first day when we were shooting, my lips froze. I could not move them and Vishal Bhardwaj kept saying why aren’t you doing this right. I said, sir, my lips are not moving. I'm really trying to move my face but the words were not coming out. So, after every take, I would put a hot water bottle on my lips and face. But I guess these are the experiences that give you stories to tell people, and in the end, I really enjoyed it all.

When did you get offered this part?

He spoke to me about it when we were shooting for Khufiya and then when we were shooting for Fursat, he said he was starting Charlie Chopra next and he wanted me to read the script and audition and I said I would love to. This is our fourth project together.

The show has a very eclectic cast of incredibly accomplished actors, young actors and actors with very different acting styles. What was it like working with this ensemble?

It was beautiful. I would never have imagined working with all these people in the same show. I mean, I might have imagined one name in one project, but to work with Naseeruddin Shah, Neena Gupta, Ratna Pathak Shah, Gulshan Grover, Lara Dutta in the same project — for me that was overwhelming.

What’s next for you?

Vishal Bhardwaj’s Khufiya comes out on Netflix on October 5. Then I have done this pan-India Tamil language fantasy film called Genie, a Hindi film with Varun Dhawan which is produced by Atlee. After doing so much OTT stuff, it is nice to get back to the cinema hall.