It not only has an intriguingtitle but is also a rare Indian animal vigilante film. Anshuman Jha and Ridhi Dogra star in Lakadbaggha (meaning ‘hyena’ in Hindi), which releases in theatres this Friday. Directed by Victor Mukherjee and also starring Milind Soman and Paresh Pahuja, Lakadbaggha screened at last month’s Kolkata International Film Festival to much appreciation and has been predominantly shot in the city. The Telegraph chatted with Anshuman and Ridhi to know more about their film.

Lakabaggha was predominantly shot in Calcutta. What was the experience like?

Anshuman Jha: I have really fond memories of the city as a whole. The food, the people... I would visit the city often as a kid. It’s a very difficult place to shoot in but we had a lot of fun. It was a blast working here. We shot at Park Street, College Street, Victoria Memorial, Haritaki Bagan, Eco Park which has the water body on the side... we also shot at China Town which is a very central component to the film.

Ridhi Dogra: Coming to Calcutta is always a dream. I love the energy and it’s one of the few places left in the country that’s brimming with culture and art. I had shot here before for a television show, and over the years, I have come here many times.

The premise of an animal vigilante film is very novel. Was that your primary reason to do the film?

Anshuman: It’s been a dream for me to do an action film. But because of my size and the way I am, nobody has ever thought of me as an action hero....

The poster of Lakadbaggha

But Jackie Chan is the ultimate action hero...

Anshuman: Exactly! We admire many things outside, but when it comes to putting our neck out and doing things, we tend to fall back on our comfort zones and set models... and that has happened all through the years.

I really believe that being ordinary is a superpower. During LSD (Love Sex Aur Dhokha, his debut film), Dibakar (Banerjee, director) told me, ‘Anshuman, your biggest strength is your ordinary relatability’. So I wanted to do an action film about an ordinary guy. I didn’t want to do an action film where there are high-speed shots of entry and where the dust is flying.... Don’t get me wrong, I love those kinds of films when they are done well. But I would be living in a fool’s paradise if I thought I could play Krrish.

I have always loved movies like Kick-Ass and Ong-Bak and growing up, Bruce Lee has been one of my idols.

I am a big fan of the life philosophy that he followed, and discipline is a big part of it. So I wanted to do an action film which has all the elements of the genre, but is about a common guy.I am a big lover of animals, especially dogs. I truly believe that dogs have domesticated us and we are truly lucky to have them in our lives. This film merged both my passions, and it just made sense for me to be involved in the development of the script and to discover a new action form. Krav Maga (an Israeli martial art form) has not been done in India in full flight. I trained with Tsahi (Shemesh, one of the foremost proponents of Krav Maga in the world) in New York... he has trained the Avengers cast. In India, I trained with Vicky Arora, who, in turn, has trained with Sanjay Shetty, who is the Krav Maga India champion. For me, this film is a love letter to dogs. That was my biggest attraction to do the film.

Ridhi: Anshuman met me with the director Victor (Mukherjee) and they were very clear what they wanted to do. At the heart, it speaks against animal cruelty and being an animal lover, I knew I had to do this film. I also get to do quite a bit of action in it and that’s always very exciting. The kind of clarity that Anshuman and Victor had and the value system that Anshuman and his production company (First Ray Films) came with, made me want to do this.

For me, if I am on a set and I am unable to talk to a team and I am sitting with a bunch of clueless people, then everything else doesn’t matter. Fortunately, team was very clued in.

Do you think the title Lakadbaggha is alienating or do you think it increases the intrigue? I had to seek out the meaning when I first heard about your film?

Anshuman: The first time I heard the word Lakadbaggha was when Victor used it. That’s when we started talking about it and I feel that it’s a title which stays with you. It, of course, means Hyena and the Indian Striped Hyena is one of the rarest this species and in August 2021, the first Striped Hyena was spotted in the wild after five years at Corbett National Park. With this title, we want to intrigue the audience, make them curious and also educate them at the same time because we need to highlight this species more.

Do the two of you especially gravitate towards roles that leave you with a unique experience or enable you to acquire a new skill set, like in the case of Lakadbaggha?

Ridhi: That’s true for anything that I do. I wake up every morning with the ambition and intention of making something of the day. There is definitely some residue that every character that I play leaves within me. What it will and how it will be... I don’t think one can decide that. Coincidentally, when Anshuman met me, that was the time I did want to learn Krav Maga. In fact, I was figuring where to learn it. That didn’t happen in this film, but I did get to do action.

I like playing characters that make me think and make me want to put in a little bit of myself and also elevate and make it more than what it was when it came to me.

Anshuman: I will pick my last three projects to just illustrate how I work. When Mastram was offered to me, everyone was like, ‘This is about an erotic writer’. I was told that the producers were getting intimacy coordinators from the West, and they turned out to be the same team that had worked on Game of Thrones. That, for me, is process. Anything that takes me out of my comfort zone works for me, and that probably stems from what I did during my theatre days. I really enjoy things that take me through a process of learning. In reality, I am very ordinary, normal, boring... whatever you may like to call it (laughs). The actor in me is the alter ego of me.

After Mastram, I did Hum Bhi Akele Tum Bhi Akele which was an LGBTQ+ film and I had to jump to the other extreme of being a heterosexual man who had to play a LGBTQ character who is in the closet. To mentally and psycho-physically play a character like that was challenging. And after that, I wanted to push myself physically and Lakadbaggha was the motivation to do so.