Actor Arshad Warsi, known for his impeccable comic timing on screen, will take on a serious role with the upcoming socio-political action-drama Bandaa Singh Chaudhary. The film is helmed by Abhishek Saxena (Phullu (2017)) and produced by Arbaaz Khan. Set in 1975, the trailer of the film shows Bandaa (Arshad), as a courageous man who falls in love with the character played by Meher Vij and how he is threatened by members of a community to leave his house. Bandaa stands firmly against the threats and picks up arms in a bid to save his family. Arshad says that he was really moved when he heard the story. “It is really painful when someone forces you to leave your home and you have to go to a new place where you don’t know anyone. It is horrible,” he says.
Bandaa Singh Chaudhary explores a rift between two communities and how certain extreme forces threaten to destroy peace. On whether the film might stir up an outrage for its subject matter, Arshad says that it doesn’t have anything controversial. “At the end of the day, it is the story of a common man, a regular husband, who fights for his right,” he says. “You must be a bad person to find anything wrong in something so positive,” he adds. Abhishek seconds him as he adds that the film’s intentions were always clear in their minds while making it. “We didn’t want to hurt anyone’s sentiments. This is not at all a story that can hurt anyone,” he says. “Rather, it is about people of all religions coming together to fight against the bad people.”
Abhishek says that it was Bandaa's courage that really made him want to be a part of the story. “There are very few people who are able to stand up against any injustice meted out against them,” he says. “Although Bandaa is a fictional character that we have created, there were many whose stories we heard that inspired us to bring that courage on-screen.” Meher says that she took references from Sikh history in order to prepare for her role, particularly the 17th-century warrior soldier Mai Bhago, a Sikh woman known for her fiery skills on the battlefield. She also imbibed mannerisms from her own observations of powerful women she has come across in her life. “Women who have learnt martial arts in childhood, have a strong mindset and are better equipped to deal with everything. It is extremely difficult to break them. My character in the film is the same,” she says. The actor also took martial arts training for some of the action sequences.
Arshad will also be seen doing action in the film after a long time and says that he enjoyed coming back to the genre. “The action in Bandaa... is not far-fetched and over-the-top. It’s realistic,” he says. The actor reveals that he is a great fan of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky series and all the Jackie Chan films. He also confessed to being a fan of the Mission: Impossible series and Bourne Identity series. For him, switching genres while doing different films is not too difficult as he feels that it is the same actor who is acting in it. “It's like a job of going to the set and doing some acting and it could be a serious drama or comedy. Is it difficult to do it? No. Thankfully, it comes naturally to me,” he says. At the same time, he has his own process which he follows before doing any film. “When I hear a script, I let the character stay in my head and I will only be thinking about it till I finish it. So right now, I am going to start a series soon and I can't stop thinking of that character 24/7.”
Arshad is primarily known for comic roles in Munna Bhai M.B.B.S (2003) and Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006), Dhamaal (2007) and Golmaal series (2006-2017), among others. On the other hand, he has given some hard-hitting performances in films like Sehar (2005), Ishqiya (2010), Jolly LLB (2013) and Irada (2017). He likes to maintain a healthy balance while choosing projects. “I switch to serious roles after getting fed up with comedies,” he says. However, after some serious roles, he again feels like taking up comic roles and the circle continues. “I just finished 3-4 really serious films and now I am going to do some silly stuff. So, there is Welcome To The Jungle and Dhamaal 4 coming up next,” he concludes.