Veteran actor Neena Gupta is currently being lauded for her performance in the just-released film 'Dial 100'. However, she says wasn't sure of taking up the role. "I had initially turned down this role because I was unsure of portraying a grey character but I am glad that I took up this challenge because now after seeing the audience's love for my performance feels like a job well done. I am thankful to my fans for all the love and support," Neena Gupta said in a statement.
For the unversed, the Rensil D' Silva thriller features actor Manoj Bajpayee as a police officer who gets a distress call from Neena Gupta's character Seema Pallav. As Manoj tries to help Neena, he soon realises their past connect which has now put his wife (Sakshi Tanwar) and their child in danger.
Sakshi has also opened up about her experience working with her co-stars. Sakshi told IANS: "It was so special and emotional for me to work with Manoj sir. I was in Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi where we were doing a street play and Manoj sir directed that play. This was like 30 years ago, I was a student. Soon after that he came to Mumbai and when 'Satya' was released, for me I was like - 'I know him, he is my first director, I will meet him when I will become an actress'.
"It was weird that from the time I started working as an actress in Mumbai, I never met him properly and of course, never worked together. But it was on my wishlist to work with Manoj sir or at least meet him as an actress because I was just a student back then with a dream to become an actress. I wanted to meet him once and say 'sir, you remember, I was that student you directed for a street play!"
Sakshi said, "I have maximum number of scenes and all of them are very crucial, with Neenaji. In the film, there are a lot of tense moments between these two characters. Off-camera, it was just the opposite! Once the director says 'cut', we will just relax. I tend to talk a lot and Neena was quite welcoming to that idea, so whenever we got time, we had so much to talk! We would laugh, giggle and the more I watched Neena ji closely, the more I admired her. This was also the first film I shot post lockdown that actually gave me a sense of normalcy that otherwise I was feeling stuck in one confined space. I would say doing the film made me fulfill so many of my wishes! I am so happy!"
Also read: Manoj Bajpayee had directed Sakshi Tanwar in a play! Actress recalls nostalgic moment with 'first director'
'Dial 100' is currently streaming on Zee 5.
