Actor Raveena Tandon says she has always tried to find diverse roles and her character of an ultra glamorous billionaire's wife in "Karmma Calling" is something that she was waiting to do.
Tandon, who made her streaming debut with Netflix's acclaimed series "Aranyak", said her new show, set to stream on Disney+ Hotstar, is one of the four projects she will be seen in this year. She also stars in feature films "Ghudchadi", "Patna Shukla" and "Welcome to Jungle".
“There's always been my conscious effort to not repeat the characters, and play something that's more challenging, completely different. I've got the opportunity to play different characters in these projects, and I hope I do justice to it,” the actor told PTI.
In "Karmma Calling", Tandon plays the role of Indrani Kothari, a glamorous queen of the 90s who is married to a billionaire, whose life takes a turn when a mysterious woman, Karma, enters the scene. It is based on the popular 2011 American series “Revenge”.
"It's a role that I was completely waiting to do,” the actor said.
"I played Ramika Sen (a Prime Minister) in ‘KGF 2’, Kasturi Dogra (a cop) in ‘Aranyak’, a grieving mother in ‘Maatr’ and I’m playing a different character in ‘Welcome to Jungle’. And here comes this ultra glam role (in ‘Karmma Calling’). This fitted in the slot (of things) that I wanted to do. It all just worked out,” she added.
Collaborating with budding artists like Namrata Sheth and Varun Sood on “Karmma Calling”, Tandon was reminded of her early days, when her fellow actors assisted her in giving her best performance in the role.
"In a show or a film, everyone has to shine, only if everyone shines, then only the product will shine. I’m not playing an individual sport, that I’ll only shine, I’ll try to do my best but I’ll also see to it that I bring the best in others. Ultimately, it's going to be a team effort that is going to win the race,” Tandon said.
She expressed gratitude to her co-actors like Govinda, with whom she collaborated on several successful comedies such as “Bade Miyan Chote Miyan”, “Dulhe Raja”, “Anari No.1”, and Nana Patekar, her co-star from crime-drama “Ghulam-E-Mustafa”.
"We have always had that great tuning with heroes. Chichi (Govinda) would help me with comedy timing. When I did films with Nana Patekar, he would help me with the scenes. There was a very tricky scene in ‘Ghulam-E-Musthafa’, I was very young at that time. In the scene, I had to start crying while talking. So Nana sat with me and said, ‘Do it this way’, and it became one of the most talked about scenes.
"With Chichi, I learnt my sense of timing. So there are places where we have all helped each other grow,” Tandon said.
At the trailer launch event of “Karmma Calling”, director Ruchi Narain had revealed that she waited for 10 years for Tandon to come aboard the show.
The actor said she had similar instances with filmmakers like Rajkumar Santoshi and Onir for their films “Andaz Apna Apna” and “Shab”, respectively.
"This is literally our Karmma Calling, Ruchi and I were meant to do this project together. This is an amazing thing, and we have grown together, spoken about this project and ultimately, did it. Ruchi is an accomplished director, she focuses on nuances and the characterisation,” Tandon said.
“Karmma Calling” will debut on Disney+ Hotstar on January 26.
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