Zoya Hussain plays an IPS officer in Grahan: ‘Life has been wonderful after Mukkabaaz’

Disney+ Hotstar is gearing up to release an action-thriller web series Grahan, which has been inspired by the novel Chaurasi by Satya Vyas. The Hotstar Specials’ series follows the aftermath of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots which also interlinks two stories from different eras. The Ranjan Chandel directorial show stars Zoya Hussain, Pavan Malhotra, Anshuman Pushkar, Wamiqa Gabbi, Teekam Joshi and Sahidur Rahman in pivotal roles. Zoya, who will be seen portraying an IPS officer in Grahan, talks about her character and the show in an exclusive chat with OTTplay.

When asked about how Grahan happened to her, Zoya Hussain replied, “Well, there are a lot of elements. Ranjan (director of the show) and I had worked earlier in Mukkabaaz and it was the first film for both of us. When I got to know that he’s doing this new project, I got really excited and then I got to know about the story and my character Amrita, who is the IPS officer in the show that intrigued me a lot.”

Talking about her prep for the character, the actor shares, “We had an amazing workshop coach Puja Swaroop, who is a fantastic actor as well and helped us all a lot. Firstly, I had to do a physical prep where I had to learn certain ways to behave and portray a convincing character of Amrita who is an IPS officer.”

“She is a police officer but then there’s a lot to the show and to her. The main part of the show also explores the father-daughter dynamics between Amrita and her father,” Zoya added.

On being asked if her character has a love interest in the show, she replied, “Yes, of course, Amrita has a love interest in Grahan, but she is not very focused on her relationship with his man. Her work is the most important thing and it’s her trip in life.”

Ask her how life changed for her after debuting with Anurag Kashyap’s Mukkabaaz, the actor quips, “Life has been wonderful after doing Mukkabaaz. Working on a film like that and with such a filmmaker, it opens up a lot of doors for you and a lot of opportunities, it gives other people a context about you, they get to know who you are.”

So which actor from the current generation inspires her the most? Zoya shares, “Honestly, everyone is doing really great work. Because the online media has opened it up for all the new and talented people and it is amazing. From the last few years, more than ever, there are so many opportunities that have come in the way of many people.”

I hope that more and more diverse bunch of people keep getting more opportunities because it’s really enriching.”

What kind of character does Zoya want to play in future? The Laal Kaptaan actress reveals, “A character in a period film or a spy thriller really intrigues me. Some great tragic story or dark comedy film would also be really great to work in. Honestly, I want to do everything.”

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Talking about the release of Hathi Mere Sathi, which is a Hindi version of her debut Tamil film Kaadan alongside Rana Daggubati, the actress said, “It was wonderful that Kaadan and Aranya (Telugu version) could release at the given timing. Hopefully, Hathi Mere Sathi will also come out soon but I really don’t have any idea exactly when and where.”

Zoya has worked both in films and web shows. Ask her how different the experience was for her, she says, “I really didn’t realise how different they were. However, on a show, there’s so much time to go into detail. Even a conversation or a scene is just longer than the films.”

“There’s so much material for you to exploit and explore and the graph of a character on a show is quite detailed,” the actor signs off.

You can watch Zoya’s upcoming show Grahan on Disney+ Hotstar on June 24.

(Written by Sunidhi Prajapat)