Iqbal Khan, Donal Bisht on shooting Doon Kaand during COVID and why the show’s a blessing in disguise

The trailer of Iqbal Khan , Donal Bisht and Indraneil Sengupta starrer Doon Kaand was recently dropped by the makers and it garnered a tremendous response on social media. The 10-episode series, which is set in Uttarakhand, is expected to take you on a thrilling ride. While the OTT lovers are waiting for the release of this investigative thriller, in a conversation with Firstpost, Donal and Iqbal shared why they said yes to the show and how shooting in COVID turned out to be a blessing in disguise for them. Excerpts from the interview:

What made you say yes to Doon Kaand?

Iqbal: For me primarily, it was a story. I basically look at the entire story and then the character that I’ve been offered. For me, it was a story and then obviously the character, it was a very unusual portrayal of a cop, which I’ve not seen in a very long time. I’ve either seen corrupt cops or I’ve seen flamboyant cops or I’ve seen unrealistic cops or I’ve seen very very good cops. This cop has a very human touch to it. So, that’s what I love about the character.

Donal: For me, I think the character of this girl Tamanna, she is strong, she is loving towards her family but as soon as she gets married her life changes to 360 degree, but she embraces that. She empathizes whatever is happening and she tries to give her best to make things right. And how she also helps the cop Iqbal, who’s playing my husband in this. She binds the family together. So, that is the thing which I really liked in Tamanna for that you can see this show I think. And obviously, the story is so engaging and from the first episode, you’ll be glued to the episodes you would want to see more and more. So, yeah, the story and the location itself, I would say any revenge story or any thriller or any gangster stories based in the streets of UP and of Maharashtra, I would say, but this is based on a beautiful Mussoorie, the beautiful parts of Mussoorie. So I think that is also very refreshing to the story. So that’s how I am here. And I said yes to it.

Did you observe any personality for your character?

Iqbal: You know there’s obviously the writer who has written, has made a certain kind of a personality to the particular character. That one has to keep in mind as an actor that, and then obviously whatever some things that you can bring in yourself as an actor keeping in mind that it doesn’t go out of character. That’s something that I usually do.

I’ve crossed my forties yaar. So, I’ve pretty much seen if not all, but a little bit of whatever one can see till my age. And life makes you, if not go through, makes you at least see people who go through and sometimes you yourself go through certain things and there’s a certain kind of emotion that is inside you and as an actor, you try to bring it out. It’s a lot of you is inside, which is stored, which I usually thoda thoda take it out in different shows and different things that I do. So, yeah, that really helped me.

Donal: I really believe that whatever characters you see outside, they are there in some or the other percentage in you as well. So, portraying a particular character, you need to figure out within yourself that where is that character? At what intensity that character is there in you? So, finding out yourself, only within yourself that is the main important thing. And that is how I plan my characters and that is how I portray it. And learning from outside is always good. You see a lot of world cinema, you see different characters, but making it your own, that is very important and that you can get from within only. So, that is the whole process I go through whenever I choose a character.

Both of you are seasoned actors and you have played different kinds of roles in your career, but there have been times when you do two or more projects simultaneously. So, how switch characters at that time? 

Iqbal: Yeah, I’ve always tried my level best to do one project at a time. But these days in bigger web shows, which are slightly on a high-end budget, they go on for months and that is somewhere where by the time that shooting is ending, you might start another show. Well, it’s not all that crazy unless and until you are getting into a character, which has to be worked upon. So, if that thing happens, then it might be difficult because then, a little bit of this is left, but you’re still getting it into another one. For me as an actor, it’s easier if I just have to follow one, kyonki woh pichla wala hai na woh thoda sa reh jata hai or usko nikalne mein kuch din reh jaate hai.

Donal: Yeah. I also totally agree on this because I faced this as I was shooting for TV only and I was doing back-to-back shows and there was just two, three days of a break in between and I used to get another show. So, I realized that leaving the character completely and then getting into another character can require time. You cannot switch on and you cannot switch off that. You require time to let the character go off and imbibe another character. So, it’s great to have a break in between as my personal experience and my personal thing only. So, in between web shows, luckily, this web show, which I have shot, which was initially Cold Blood, and now it has been changed to Doon Kaand, I wanna tell everybody as guys are very eager to know what happened to that.

And now I am doing another web show, so I had taken a break in between. I’m shooting another web right now, so that becomes easier for you to become the character because you cannot switch off and switch on, you are human. Acting is an experience, acting is emotions. So, you cannot switch on-switch off, it remains in you. So, you have to give yourself time, breathe a bit, go out and then you come again and then you become the character that’s the process, which I really love.

Past two years have been a tough time. So were there any concerns or stress when you were shooting during COVID?

Iqbal: To be Frank, God has been very kind to a lot of us and we’ve gone through stuff and we’ve come out of it. But shooting-wise, it has been a blessing in disguise because we were shooting in the second wave and we had the entire Mussoorie at our disposal. So, there was no crowd and it was pretty clean so it was a good deal for us shooting wise.

Donal: I think we are blessed that we are from those few people who were shooting, who didn’t have any break in between, you know, so it was a blessing in disguise. And shooting in Mussoorie was wonderful. Everybody was craving for a break from Mumbai or from Delhi or from very infected areas. And we were there in Mussoorie having our lockdown spent, shooting at beautiful locations. I think that was a blessing in disguise and Hills mein utna nahi tha COVID ka jitna normal cities mein tha. So, it was great.

Since the show is releasing in the next few days, what kind of emotions are going through your mind?

Iqbal: I’m really looking forward to the audience reaction yeah. We’ve all done our job, we’ve all done our best and now let’s see what the audience says. I am a hundred per cent positive about it. There is no doubt it’s a wonderful product, it’s a show that needs to be seen and I hope it gets all the love that it deserves.

Donal: I really feel that the content, what we have made is it’s great, it’s real and I have not seen the rushes but I’ve seen the previous trailer, which was shown to us. It was amazing to see and when the output comes out really well you feel more confident about it. So, that’s the confidence I have right now. I’ve not seen much of it but I know people are gonna love it. And I’m just hoping for the best we have given our whole heart to the project. And I hope that purity from our act it’s gonna deliver to the audience as well.

Directed by Manoj Khade, Doon Kaand is set to stream on Voot from 20th June.

Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .