Exclusive: Gulshan Devaiah and Harleen Sethi on performing action in Bad Cop

Cop dramas are not new in Bollywood, but one with the police and the criminal looking alike? Sign us up. The new OTT cop drama, Bad Cop, has created quite a fanbase for itself with its gripping scenes and larger-than-life action sequences. Led by a super cast comprising Gulshan Devaiah, Harleen Sethi, Anurag Kashyap, Saurabh Sachdeva, and more, the show delves into the life of multifaceted police officers and keeps the audiences seated for hours. In an exclusive chat with Filmfare, Bad Cop stars Gulshan Devaiah and Harleen Sethi open up about their fondness for the show, unique dynamics brought by their co-stars, and being at the top of their games. Excerpts:

How was it portraying dynamic cops on screen?

Gulshan: It's a great deal of fun. I really enjoyed myself. It was my version of ‘masala.’ I also knew what to expect having worked with Aditya Dutt before. I knew what sort of a storyteller he is. It was also up to me to interpret what is written to suit it as per his sensibilities. Also, it was a double role, so that was extra special.

Harleen: It was a lot of fun because I got to wear the uniform and perform action sequences. In our industry, sometimes actresses don’t get to play such strong parts and do action. So, I felt very blessed to have got this part and really enjoyed playing a cop beside Gulshan. He is really fun to act with. Also, I think wearing the uniform is just a matter of pride and responsibility and you want to do it well. I come from a Sikh family, so I really wanted to wear the uniform. I was to star in the second season of a show called Test Case. My entire clan was very excited to see me in the uniform. My mama and my dad kept asking me when the show would air. Sardaaron ke liye wo shaan ki baat hoti hain uniform mein dikhna. I was just elated.

Gulshan, since you have a double role and the characters are starkly different from each other, how did you approach the characters?

Gulshan: I wanted to do justice to the story and the way Aditya Dutt wanted to make it. It was paramount for me. Mostly, the subtle differences in mannerisms came from my imagination and Aditya also showed me some footage. We also realised that there was some scope to have some physical differences between the two. So, I think it was a combination of pre-production work that I did and also the directions that I received from Aditya.

Harleen, how did you prepare for intricacies in your character?

Harleen: I like to do a lot of prep work before going on set.  So, I actually made a long list of questions. I know they're important for me to answer them just so that those layers are created. I had to really sit down and break down the scenes to understand the details. For me, the main questions were, where does she switch from wife to boss, or from wife to cop? Also, where does she switch from wife to mother? I think when you work in such a detailed way, it helps to see the layering. So, you just make a long list of questions. In my list, there were also questions like -  Do I really want to work on this relationship? Am I doing it only for my daughter or am I still in love with him? You know, is he cheating on me? Do I have those questions in my head? So some of these questions might be related, some might not be related, but they help me add layers to my character. Again, this was more on the emotional side. Physically, she was supposed to be agile, athletic, and fit in order to be able to do action. I tried to eat right and hit the gym regularly. It is not like I needed to make a certain kind of body, but this is how you put together a character physically and emotionally.

Were there any particular scenes that were difficult to navigate through?

Harleen: The crying scenes were very difficult for me. I always like to be cheerful. I can’t bring myself to tears naturally. It's a very internal process in general. I either use my emotional memory and think about things or really go deeper into this character and think of what she must be feeling.  So, I hate those scenes.

Gulshan: What I found most difficult was running. I had to go over and over again, all through the night sometimes.  I did not sweat and I just did not have the endurance or the fitness, or the cardiovascular capacity to run all night. That was the most difficult thing for me. The rest of the scenes were fun to film.

How is it working with Anurag Kashyap and Saurabh Sachdeva?

Harleen: These are formidable names in the industry. I have been a fan of Anurag Kashyap's cinema. This man travels the world, watches a lot of films, and goes to all of these film festivals of the world. Whatever he brings to us is always something interesting and out of the box. I've been a fan of his as a director. As a person, he is very unfiltered, uninhibited, and childlike. This reflects on screen when he's an actor. He is just free and I think when you watch actors that are just free and are not limited as an audience, you also feel like something opens up in you. You enjoy their form of expression. I actually enjoy watching actors like Anurag, Gulshan, Jim Sarbh, Vijay Verma, Adarsh Gourav.

They are always pushing the boundaries and the limits. It is interesting to watch them. Saurabh Sachdeva has his own kind of rhythm, which is very different and unique. Of course, he is an acting coach. When he is not performing on screen, he is helping students out and seeing them perform. He is doing this day in and out. So the kind of experience that he comes with, it's very interesting to watch.

Gulshan: Saurabh is a curious case for me. I had seen his work a little bit, but I was not very familiar. He is a person who has dyslexia, which is very evident. Yet, you can't really tell it in the performance. He has to work with the fact that he has dyslexia. It is fascinating to see how he curates a certain process that really helps him do it. Everybody has a different approach to a scene or a character. Anurag has a good understanding of the craft because he used to be in theatre. He has performed as a theatre actor before, so he knows the craft. He's not very serious and perhaps that relaxation also comes from the fact that he doesn't really give a sh*t about it. He wants it to be fun. That is what it is.

How did you film the action-packed scenes? There seem to be too many of them…

Gulshan: There are challenges to it because one shouldn't get hurt or hurt other people. So one should be mindful of that. There's a set of choreography that you have to learn and some amount of training is also required. For me, the difficulty does not lie in performing action-packed scenes but to have the necessary endurance to do it over and over again. I feel that I don't have the physicality to perform action continuously. Neither am I an athlete, nor am I a martial artist or a stunt performer.

Harleen: I was most excited about them. Like I told you, I have been looking forward to doing action and wearing the uniform for a long time. Test Case was really my dream project and unfortunately it didn't take off for whatever reasons. But I am glad I got to do action here. I was very excited. I think what was great was actually learning how to do action. I got to know how it is all done. When I understood the technicalities, it really made the process more enjoyable.

Gulshan, is Karan gone entirely or will he make a comeback?

Gulshan: (Laughs) I'm not going to tell you anything about it! There is a suspense to it. There are a lot of plot twists. So, you really have to watch to understand it all.

What can viewers expect from the upcoming episodes?

Gulshan: More twists and turns and fun and entertainment. They can also expect more stylish action pieces.

Harleen: The most interesting thing would be action. I loved doing action for the first time ever.  Also, I think romance. I feel audiences really enjoy the romantic side of me. My fans gave my character so much love in Broken But Beautiful. I keep getting asked if I’d star in a romantic show soon. So, they’re going to be happy. I think this is enough.

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