Taapsee Pannu and Vikrant Massey return as Rani and Rishu, the married couple on the run after committing a murder, in Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba. The follow-up to the quirky, dark world of Haseen Dillruba sees Sunny Kaushal and Jimmy Shergill being added to the mad mix. t2 chatted with the quartet about the film, written by Kanika Dhillon and directed by Jayprad Desai, now streaming on Netflix.

Taapsee and Vikrant, Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba is a step up for your characters, Rani and Rishu, who get darker, edgier and bigger risk-takers. In what ways has doing the two Haseen Dillruba films been a step up for you as actors?

Taapsee Pannu: This franchise has helped me tap into a side to my personality that I didn’t know existed. I never used it on camera or off it. When I first played Rani in Haseen Dillruba, I was a little hesitant because I was not sure how everyone was going to receive it, I wasn’t sure if it is going to really look great on me to be this kind of person or am I doing it convincingly enough. I had all these doubts because it was a first-of-its-kind character for me.

But when Rani was received in a positive way, I stepped into the second film with more confidence. I knew, in a lot of instances in the script, as to how my character would react and how much I could stretch it. Primarily, in terms of confidence, Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba has been a huge step up for me as a performer.
Vikrant Massey: In Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba, Rishu has physical limitations. I had to maintain a certain kind of body language keeping in mind that the character doesn’t have an arm. Of course, there is a prosthetic arm but he also has to do action sequences and the limitation that the character has was very challenging. Also, in the first film, Rishu was a shy guy. He is no longer that. He is far more alert because he has got the cops behind him, there are people who are keeping an eye on him all the time. The second film shows Rishu to be far more intense.

I enjoy playing intense parts and this franchise gives me the opportunity to do so. I love the franchise. The world that Kanika (Dhillon, writer) has built is very compelling.

The world of the Haseen Dillruba franchise is quite different from what we get to typically watch on Indian screens. Sunny, what has been the most intriguing aspect of being a part of the second film?

Sunny Kaushal: What intrigued me about this film is the duality that every character has. In the first film, every character has been for himself or herself but has also, in a way, been selfless for love. They did things for themselves but also did things for others and that intrigued me.

Also, I love the craziness of this world! Things change every two minutes. One doesn’t know who is actually what. That is also what interested me about my character Abhimanyu. At the midpoint of Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba, when Abhimanyu’s real character is revealed, you realise that he is not as simple as he looks. For any actor, that drastic change is a very meaty thing to play. One gets to showcase a wide range and a gamut of emotions.

This world and this character is very new to me. I always wanted to play someone like Abhimanyu in order to test the waters as to how far I can go as an actor. When Kanika narrated the character to me, I was really thrown and I thought it was a perfect opportunity for me. When it turned out that Abhimanyu is actually a psycho, I told her: ‘I am doing it! I am doing it!’ (Laughs)

And that innocent face, I am sure, totally helps!

Sunny: Yes! (Laughs) I think that was one of the reasons why they thought of me... that I could play this man because I look innocent. It also helps in the creepiness factor when the reveal is made later.

Jimmy, you have been a part of many a quirky world. What did you think of the world of Haseen Dillruba?

Jimmy: When I watched the first one, I thought it was quite a mad film, especially in the second half. The first half of Haseen Dillruba did look more like an Aanand L. Rai production (laughs), but midway, the film took a very crazy turn which was something that everyone enjoyed. That is the reason why Haseen Dillruba was such a big success.

When they wrote the second film, Kanika told me that she wanted me to play this part (of cop Montu Paswan). I read the script and I felt I had to watch the first film once more to understand these guys (Rani and Rishu). They are mostly innocent people who have gone dark. It is a very different world, one that we don’t get to see in our movies often and I said ‘yes’ to the sequel.

Would you agree that though the world is quirky and dark, the relatability factor of these characters also endears them to the viewer?

Taapsee: It is this combination of quirk and relatability which has defined most of my movies. When Kanika gave me Manmarziyaan, I knew that every part that she would offer me subsequently would never be Miss Goody Two Shoes. With Haseen Dillruba, she threw a googly at me and offered me a character who ran the risk of being hated.

Rani and Rishu are innocent people in their own world who make mistakes like all of us do. We are all humans and we make mistakes. Such characters are more relatable to the audience than those righteous characters that we are used to seeing as heroes and heroines on our screen. Even when she makes a mistake, Rani owns up to it. If she had a malicious intent, she would hide it. These are all human traits that make these characters relatable. A huge reason for us to make a second film in the franchise was that these characters built hope in the hearts and minds of people.
Vikrant: What Sunny said about the duality of all of us is so true. The equation between Rani and Rishu is very spicy. As audiences, we are largely voyeuristic in nature. We enjoy peeping into people’s living rooms. The first film gave the audience the possibility to creep in and watch beyond what is perceived as the good guy. That sense of relatability got enhanced because of the way it was written.

Taapsee, the femme fatale in Hindi cinema, since time immemorial, has mostly been perceived through a negative lens. Do you think Rani has managed to bring about a shift, even if little, in the way a woman who uses her sexuality is perceived?

Taapsee: I am not very sure that it will change anything in the perspective of people. We have been promoting this film and yesterday, I was asked how does it feel to portray a negative character like Rani. Even after two films, the interpretation of this character remains negative.

We haven’t reached a point where I can say that it has or can change mindsets. The average male in the audience looks at Rani as a woman who gets her way by dropping her pallu. The average female viewer sees Rani as a negative character. Yes, they enjoy these films, they love the entertainment bit of it... but I am talking about the interpretation of the character. For most people, a woman can either be a devi or a daayan, but nothing in between. Rani is a character that they don’t know how to define and so it becomes easy to bracket her as loose and negative.

So I don’t think there has been a shift in mindset. But what has definitely happened is that now, in both films and series, we have more and more mainstream actors playing characters with grey shades. But then again, men by virtue of being men are sometimes exempted from doing a lot of negative stuff. It is the women who ultimately end up being tagged a lot more.

Rani and Rishu are the ultimate crazy couple. What is the craziest thing that you have heard anyone doing for love?

Taapsee: I read a story in the newspaper about this woman in Tamil Nadu who, along with her boyfriend, killed her husband and then the boyfriend deformed his face with acid and started staying with the woman to show that he is the husband. So Rishu cutting his arm for Rani is not far away from reality.
Vikrant: The craziest thing that I have done in love is getting married! (Everyone laughs)
Taapsee: Me too! That is pretty crazy, right?