Nearly two decades after Indra Kumar first launched the ‘Dhamaal’ franchise, ‘Dhamaal 4’ brought the series back with all its trademark chaos. Reprising their roles were franchise regulars Ajay Devgn, Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, and Jaaved Jaaferi, joined this time by a new set of actors. One of them, Sanjeeda Shaikh, got the chance to explore both action and comedy through her role in the film.

Sanjeeda Shaikh on shedding the “serious actor” tag

Speaking with Hindustan Times, Sanjeeda reflected on how she bagged the role and what filming was like. Before ‘Dhamaal 4’, comedy wasn’t something she had explored on screen, her last project being Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s intense period drama Heeramandi. The actor revealed that the ‘serious actor’ label stuck with her following that show. “Dhamaal 4 happened to me because Indra sir (director Indra Kumar) called me, and he met me after watching ‘Heeramandi’. And unka pehla sawal tha ki ‘Aap toh bahut serious actress hain (You are a very serious actress),’ because Heeramandi was very serious.” Sanjeeda said she asked the filmmaker to give her a shot at proving her comic timing. “I sat with him, and I think he heard me laughing and I laugh like a man so he said, ‘Okay, this is fine.” And meri casting ho gayi (My casting was done,” she adds.

Sanjeeda Shaikh on holding her own with comedy veterans

In ‘Dhamaal 4’, Sanjeeda found herself sharing screen space with comedy veterans, which pushed her to raise her own game and blend in seamlessly. “You are working and sharing the screen with Ajay sir, Arshad, Riteish; those people whose comic timing is such that they elevate the scene even without speaking. So, you have to up your game. My focus was on ensuring my character would not be lost, because this is an established franchise with beloved characters. I should not look out of place,” says Sanjeeda.

Sanjeeda Shaikh on ending up with all the action scenes

As it turns out, Sanjeeda’s role called for just as much action as comedy, and in a number of scenes with veteran action stars, it was her character right in the middle of the mayhem. “In all my scenes, if you’ve seen, there is action involved,” says the actor, “Toh mujhe actually ullu banaya gaya, mujhe bola gaya tha ki comedy karni hai lekin mujhe action karwaya gaya. (I was actually fooled; I was told I had to do comedy, but they made me do action).” According to Sanjeeda, it became a running gag on set, with her doing the action while veteran action star Ajay Devgn handled the comedy scenes. “Main sach se boloongi. Ajay Devgn set pe hain aur mujhse saare action sequences karwaye ja rahe hain (Ajay Devgn is on set, and I am doing all the action scenes). It had just become a joke on set.”

A star-studded cast

The film’s cast also included Ravi Kishan, Sanjay Mishra, Upendra Limaye, Anjali Anand, and Esha Gupta.