Quasi-family, real emotions

Pankaj Tripathi with Sanjana Sanghi

Ahead of the release of Kadak Singh, Sanjana Sanghi is dominated by one emotion - relief. The actor admits that initially, the prospect of starring in the Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury film was daunting. It didn't help that when the director narrated the thriller to her over a Zoom call, she was left more confused than convinced. "He was editing Lost, and was distracted. Kadak Singh can be tricky to understand in a narration. But when I read it, it spoke to me," smiles Sanghi. Couple that with Chowdhury's unwavering faith in her, and she was ready to jump into the project. "At this stage of my career, it feels reassuring when a filmmaker of Tony da's [Chowdhury] calibre wants me, without asking me to audition or to read for him. I'm glad I did the film, otherwise I would have regretted it for the rest of my life."
The ZEE5 thriller follows Pankaj Tripathi's Kadak Singh, a joint director at the department of financial crimes, who is suffering from retrograde amnesia and is trying to piece together the events that led to this predicament. Sanghi, who plays his daughter, says the depiction of their bond touched her heart. "I desperately wanted to do [the film] because I knew Tony da would bring [more] layers to the dynamic."

The director ensured that Tripathi and Sanghi undertook workshops that would enhance their father-daughter bond on screen. She has fond memories of them. "I will always remember Pankaj sir's Madh Island house where I used to eat momos and take a nap in his daughter's room. Tony da would join us sometimes, we'd listen to classical music and not even talk about the film. Our workshops [focused] on discovering each other. We spoke about so many things that weren't even relevant to our characters. In the middle of all that, we found our film."