‘Do Aur Do Pyaar’ Actress Vidya Balan: I Am Completely Monogamous, Abhor The Concept Of Open Relationship

When asked about her reaction upon working with Pratik, Vidya said, “I had watched 'Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story' already, so when Tanuj, Atul, and Swati (the producers of the movie) came home, we were discussing various characters, and for the role of Ani, they said ‘we’ve thought about Pratik Gandhi, the guy from Scam 1992.’ I was like, 'Wow!' He was fabulous.’ It didn’t feel like you were acting in the series even for a minute. If I didn’t know how Harshad Mehta looked, I would have thought it was you. So, I was very excited.”

As the film revolves around relationships, Pratik questioned Vidya about her perspective on open relationships. To which, she said, “I don’t understand the idea of an open relationship. I think you can be open with each other about everything, but when you talk about open relationships and open marriage, you are talking about being okay with your partner being with someone else, sharing your partner with someone else. I am not okay with that. I am completely monogamous, and I believe in monogamy. I abhor this concept of open relationship. If it works for you, great, but I cannot fathom how it works for someone.”

Vidya further asked Pratik to suggest three films everyone must watch. And the actor said, “I feel I get connected to the strongest emotions the most, and I find myself a very common audience. So, I feel The Pursuit of Happyness and Sadma are films that have layers of emotions and are conveyed simply in the most human possible way. One more is Hera Pheri because of their comic timing, which landed every time I watched, and I have watched it multiple times.”

Given Pratik's theatre background, Vidya asked him about the one thing he would like to take from theatre to cinema. Pratik replied, “I think what I have seen and what I have done is the discipline and duty toward the story. You have to actually leave yourself and cut your ego and become selfless to tell the story in the most honest possible way. This is what helped me, because as an actor, we constantly deal with egos onset and offset, everywhere, and also sometimes while performing. So, certain humility towards the process and being true to the storytelling is important. Also, theatre makes you human because one show will work wonders and the other show might not, so you don't lose your heart quickly. So what I have learned from theatre is that all the claps are for the characters and all the criticism is for me as an actor. So if this is what we experience in cinema, then a lot of things will change”, he added. 

‘Do Aur Do Pyaar’, which also stars Ileana D'Cruz and Sendhil Ramamurthy, is directed by Shirsha Guha Thakurta, in her directorial debut.