Sanjeeda Shaikh laughs at doing action in Dhamaal 4 while the men did comedy: 'Ajay Devgn set pe hain aur...'| Interview

Sanjeeda Shaikh talks to HT about her experience of working on Dhamaal 4, her first foray into comedy.

Dhamaal 4 was a chaotic return to the franchise started by Indra Kumar almost two decades ago. The comedy actioner saw the return of franchise favourites Ajay Devgn, Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, and Jaaved Jaaferi, while also introducing new faces to the series. Among them was actor Sanjeeda Shaikh, who found herself doing a bit of both action and comedy in the film. In an exclusive chat with Hindustan Times, Sanjeeda looks back on how she landed the role and her filming experience.

Sanjeeda Sheikh with Arshad Warsi and Jaaved Jaaferi in Dhamaal 4.

Sanjeeda on ‘serious actor’ tag

Prior to Dhamaal 4, Sanjeeda had not dabbled in comedy. Her previous show before this was Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s intense period drama Heeramandi. The actor says the tag of ‘serious actor’ followed her after this. “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 told the filmmaker to give her a chance to show how funny she is. “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 with a laugh.

‘Had to up my game’

Dhamaal 4 saw her share the screen with comedy veterans. The actor felt she had to up her game and not stick out. “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.

In Dhamaal 4, Sanjeeda’s character does as much action as she does comedy. In fact, in many scenes alongside other veteran action stars, it was Sanjeeda’s character in the thick of things. “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).”

Sanjeeda says it became a joke on set that she was doing action scenes while Ajay Devgn, a veteran action star, was on set for the comedy bits. “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.”

About Dhamaal 4

Dhamaal 4 also starred Ravi Kishan, Sanjay Mishra, Upendra Limaye, Anjali Anand, and Esha Gupta. The film opened to largely negative reviews but was lapped up by audiences. It has earned over ₹200 crore worldwide, emerging as a box-office success.