Amazon Prime Video released the trailer of filmmaker Shakun Batra’s Gehraiyaan, starring Deepika Padukone, Ananya Panday, Siddhant Chaturvedi, and Dhairya Karwa, on Thursday. The Amazon Original movie is set to release on the streaming platform on February 11.
According to a press release, the film is a relationship drama that looks beneath the surface of complex modern relationships, adulting, letting go, and taking control of ones’ life path.
Speaking at the trailer launch, Padukone said her character is much more “raw and realistic” than most other roles she has played in the past. “You have never seen me or any other Indian actor play such a role. The subject of the film is Shakun’s forte. He is the best when it comes to showing the dynamics of love and relationship of any kind. He shows it as it is without any judgment.”
Padukone further said that the director made her and the other cast members feel extremely comfortable. “The way he shows intimacy on screen, it isn’t for shock value. He has showed it in the utmost real way while also making sure we were absolutely comfortable with it.”
Batra too spoke at the trailer launch. He said that while infidelity may not be a new concept in Indian cinema, Gehraiyaan shows it in a way that has not been seen before. “Earlier, whenever we saw infidelity in films, it was shown that one cheated on another because they stumbled upon someone else who was their ‘the one’. But these days people are not having affairs to find a soulmate. It is a very ‘in the moment’ kind of thing where you stumble across someone who understands you right then and there. Gehraiyaan doesn’t show infidelity under the garb of finding a soulmate because I don’t think relationships work like that, it is more about finding yourself.”
The director also revealed that the film’s title was only chosen a month ago because it was extremely difficult to come up with a name that went with the theme.
Talking about Batra, Panday said at the trailer launch, “I watched all these international films before meeting Shakun. But when I met him, he was such a chilled-out guy. He makes sure that everyone is prepared and gives actors the space they need. I was in complete shock to find that they actually thought of me for this film.”
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Chaturvedi spoke about how the lack of reference point for his character made the experience difficult, yet exciting. “It has been two years since we started this film. There were no second thoughts about me doing it, but I did not know how I could do it. There was no reference point for the character. But that is when I knew I had to do it. It is exciting to choose things that are scary, and this was one of them. Shakun and my co-actors made me so comfortable,” he said.
Jointly produced by Viacom18 Studios, Dharma Productions, and Shakun Batra’s Jouska Films, Gehraiyaan also stars Naseeruddin Shah and Rajat Kapur in pivotal roles.