Actor Ankur Rathee on working in Undekhi season 3: I spent a lot of time with gun handlers on set

Actor Ankur Rathee opened up recently about doing action scenes in his upcoming show, Undekhi Season 3. Ankur spent some time in understanding the nuances of handling weapons realistically and also spoke to gun handlers on the set. He plays the role of Daman in the series.

Speaking about it, Ankur said, "I have experience with stage combat, but action on screen is a different beast and this season Daman had plenty to do in that respect. To better acquaint myself I spent a lot of time with the gun handlers on set, understanding how each weapon is loaded, cleaned, and fired differently in real life situations.”

Further, he spoke about doing research through Youtube videos and shared, “I found myself down a rabbit hole of YouTube videos on various shooting stances and practiced loading and disarming my gun until I could do it in a matter of seconds. I thought I showed up on set "prepared" until my director Ashish was like ‘Kya kar raha tu? Ye Hollywood nahi hai.’”

Ankur added, “The director then proceeded to tell me that the Atwals are not trained killers, they're only practiced killers. He then tilted my gun sideways and showed me to shoot in a way that I'm sure wouldn't hit anything in real life (haha). But that was an important lesson for me. He said, ‘in cinema, the real thing sometimes isn't dramatic enough, in Undekhi we're portraying gang violence, not James Bond’. "

He also spoke about his character in the series and added, "In Season 2 we saw Daman abandon his black and white view of the world, and really start to explore the moral grey. But this season he runs the risk of being corrupted altogether by the crime and murder surrounding him. Daman’s central conflict throughout this franchise has been managing his loyalty between his wife and his family. Like many men, he thinks he can satisfy both parties, despite his best efforts he ends up disappointing both.”

Ankur Rathee is known for his roles in shows like Four More Shots Please (2019-) and Inside Edge (2017-). He also featured in the Taapsee Pannu starrer Thappad (2020) and Kartik Aaryan’s Shehzada (2023).

Undekhi 3 started streaming on Sony LIV on May 10. It is directed by Ashish R Shukla and also stars Harsh Chhaya, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Surya Sharma, Ankur Rathee, Ayn Zoya, Aanchal Singgh, Shivangi Singh, Varun Badola.