It’s beautiful to be creatively involved in addition to acting

Kriti Sanon is playing three roles in Do Patti – two in front of the camera, and one behind it. The actress portrays two sisters on screen, and is also debuting as producer for the Netflix film, following in the footsteps of Priyanka Chopra and Anushka Sharma. Kriti, who shared the National Award for Best Actress for her performance in Mimi, talked to the media after the trailer launch of Do Patti. Read on for excerpts:

On her experience as producer

Kuch kahaniyan aisi hoti hai jo aapke dil ko bahut jyada chu jati hai. [some stories touch your heart more than others, and this is one] and I loved the intriguing storyline of Do Patti, so I wanted to produce it. I was craving for such an opportunity as there is not only a lot of drama but it also says something. All the characters are mostly grey. There are a lot of twists and turns, the film says much more than what you have seen in the trailer.

It’s been a beautiful journey, to feed the hunger to be creatively involved other than as an actor. Being involved in every sphere of film-making, from reading the first draft, to understanding the writing process then reading the final draft, was a huge learning process. Produce karna asan nahi [producing a film is not easy]. it’s a tough job.

On how her perceptions changed from the angle of producer

I realised that ever minute means money. Between shots, when I needed to change costume, I would tell the director to keep shooting, and I would quickly change and be back in front of the camera.

On sharing the screen with Kajol eight years after Dilwale…

I was so excited when Kanika [Dhillon] told me Kajol Ma’am had agreed to work on this project. I was very new when I worked with her and Shahrukh [Khan] Sir earlier. I was just learning things. I was already in awe of her [Kajol]. It was amazing, watching her switching on and off her character. In DP, I finally got to do meaty scenes with the super performer that Kajol Ma’am is. Also, I got to spend some time with her. At times, she would ask me to say the dialogues a certain way. If she felt I’d performed well, she would say “nicely done.” That meant so much to me. You can talk to her as a co-actor. I think she looks better now, in Do Patti, than she did in Dilwale. Her eyes are magical and she brings something amazing on the screen.

Do Patti will be released on Netflix on October 25.