They enthralled viewers with their performances and camaraderie in Fukrey. Pulkit Samrat and Varun Sharma team up once again for the romantic comedy, Dolly Ki Doli where they take fun a notch higher.

Robin Singh

Pulkit Samrat in Dolly Ki Doli

In Fukrey, Varun and you were part of the same gang but here you’ll are pitted against each other. How was the experience?

Pulkit: It was relieving to see a known face on the set on the first day. There are expectations as to how we will perform together after having done Fukrey together.

Varun: There is another addition to our chemistry in the form of Sonam and Rajkummar and we all are brilliant together. I love the way the film has turned out.

How was it collaborating with Sonam and Rajkummar?

Pulkit: I have a very selfish motive when I am on the set and want to learn everything there is. Raj has always performed very well. Like in a lawn tennis match, if you get a good serve, you enjoy giving a good return. The chemistry between Raj and me was something like that.

Varun: Sonam is more experienced than all of us. She is the senior most on the set so we got to learn a lot from her – technical and professional.

Rajkummar is not known for this genre of films. It’s a beat he is not yet synonymous with.

Pulkit: He is known for his performance and can perform in any avatar. He is a versatile actor.

Varun: The situations in the film are so funny and awkward that we had to just work on our lines and everything else happened automatically. Everyone did just that on the set.

How does an ensemble cast film help an actor’s career individually?

Pulkit: It’s always about the film in totality. Nobody goes to watch the screen time that Pulkit or Varun are getting. Fukrey was also an ensemble cast and the film was so good that we are proud of it, even today. Why will you not want to be part of such a good film? How will it not help you individually? Just being part of a good film helps you immensely. It never goes against you as an actor. In an ensemble cast film, what helps you on an individual level is how your particular role leaves a mark on people.

Varun: I agree with him. It’s about the project in totality. If the audience comes out feeling happy after seeing an ensemble cast film, it works for everyone involved. When you watch Dolly Ki Doli it will be difficult for you to decide which role is better.

Varun Sharma in Dolly Ki Doli

How was it working with Sonam? Were you fashion conscious in front of her?

Varun: I tried wearing my best clothes during the auditions. She created a comfortable zone at the workshops and at the shoot. So it never felt that we didn’t know her well.

Pulkit, you seem to have a ‘Chulbul’ hangover in your swagger and get-up as a cop. Are you playing a typical ‘thulla’ in the film?

Pulkit: I am playing a Haryanvi cop and he is very different from Salman Khan’s Chulbul Pandey. I have picked up references from my personal experiences with Haryanvi cops in Delhi. It was challenging for me as I had already played a cop in Jai Ho and wanted to play this role in a different way. This guy is stern. My director Abhishek, writer Umashankar and producer Arbaaz Khan – everyone helped me with inputs on this role.

Varun: Yes, he is the handsome hunk ‘thulla’.

Pulkit, from your debut to date, how has your growth as an actor been?

Pulkit: Regardless of the fate of Supavitra Babul’s Bittoo Boss, the film helped me a lot.  I got noticed, people liked my performance and gave me a lot of appreciation and respect. It was a great stepping stone for me. Because of that I got Fukrey and then subsequent films. Babul had rejected me the first time around saying ‘this guy is too good looking, I don’t want him’. He called me after two days and said come without sleeping. So I went without sleeping. He told me I look like ‘gareeb filmon ka Shah Rukh Khan’ (poor films’ SRK). Bitto Boss has been pivotal to me. From then to now, it has been a good growth.

– Priyanka Jain