How Shreyas bagged <i>Dor</i>...

By: Praveen Lance Fernandes, IndiaFM
Monday, September 18, 2006
For all those of you who thought Shreyas Talpade had an easy entry in Dor mainly because he starred in Nagesh Kukunoor's last film Iqbal, guess again. There was no role for Shreyas in the first place in the film.

"The role that I play in Dor is of Behroopiya. It is a very interesting character but initially Nagesh wanted Behroopiya to be someone more aged character like 50 or something. I had asked him for a role in the film and he offered me something really small."

Dor is about a woman who is out to find the wife of the person who her husband had killed in Saudi Arabia. According to the laws of Saudi, if the relative of the victim grants the accused pardon then that person is forgiven, otherwise a death sentence is followed. "Nagesh offered me to choose any one of the husbands in the film. But I wanted something more." Even though I still wasn't cast in the film I made myself available on the sets to watch the shooting of the film.

And one fine day, Nagesh came to me and told me the role of Behroopiya. I said I will think about it and after reading the script I felt that this would challenge me as an actor." Well, apparently Nagesh saw the same spark of Shreyas from Iqbal for his next film as well. "Yes, he changed the character of Behroopiya to a certain extent."

A Maharashtrian adjusting to the tricks of a Rajastani must have been hard work. "Basically it has a lot of shades. Iqbal was physically more taxing but my role in Dor is more challenging."

True to the inimitable nature of his caste in Rajasthan, Behroopiya is as colorful a character as his disguises. He uses his skills to harmlessly con people to eke out a living, but has a heart of gold.

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