Two to tango

Tell us a bit about your roles.
Chang: I play a happy-go-lucky boy from Sikkim who is addicted to alcohol. He wants to con people so he can make quick money to meet his needs. The film is not just about four con artists but about four imperfect people,their relationships and journey.
Das: My character Chandu dreams of being an actor. He has the typical wannabe actor’s hair and clothes and he wants to star opposite Madhuri Dixit. It’s completely different from what I usually do,which is play to a niche,English-speaking audience. To play Chandu,I was required to speak Hindi and had extremely cheesy dialogues.

With an ensemble cast,was there any fighting for screen space?
Chang: Without sounding too politically correct,Shahid and Anushka were the most helpful co-actors that Vir and I could have found. Since it was a first for us,there was a lot that both of them helped us with.
Das: It’s a fairly young team and most of us are newcomers,including the director Parmeet Sethi. Anushka is also relatively new. But we all got along very well. In fact,Shahid was very helpful,he gave us a lot of tips.

Do you expect single hero films after this?
Chang: I don’t know whether I would be right for a lead role though I do hope for it. Because of my features,I think it might be tough to get a lead role but I hope that we come to a stage where my features don’t matter. I didn’t even think that I would get this far,so now I hope that I can keep going further.
Das: It would have to be something I haven’t done before and as I said,I don’t plan. If I did,I’d be an investment banker. But simply on the buzz that this movie has created,I’ve received offers and I’ve just worked out something with Tanuja Chandra for a project that’ll also feature Rajeev Khandelwal. And of course I am looking forward to Delhi Belly,which releases at the end of the year.

Conned anyone in real life?
Chang: When I was in dental college,we were assigned loads of practical clinical work. One year,our entire class didn’t finish enough so we forged our professors’ signatures and I was the mastermind behind this dangerous plan. We got caught but were lucky that our professors didn’t bar us from appearing for the examinations.
Das: People pay me good money just so that I’ll go on stage and insult them. I think that’s one of the biggest con-jobs.

Who was the biggest ‘Badmaash’ on the sets?
Chang: Vir is the biggest ‘badmaash’ in real life but on the sets,it was Shahid. One day we were shooting for a song and Shahid,a great dancer,teamed up with choreographer Ahmed Khan who showed us some complicated dance steps. They looked like a blur to us. We were so stressed that we spent over an hour trying to get it right but couldn’t. Then they came and laughed at us.
Das: If you ask everyone else,they’ll say it’s me. But I think it’s Chang. To be a badmaash,you have to not just do badmaashi,but also get away with it. Chang is such a sweet-natured fellow,he got away with a lot of badmaashi.

Both of you are also performers. Did you use those talents in the film?
Chang: I was the unofficial entertainer on the sets. Since everyone knows that I sing,they would keep requesting songs during our breaks. Soon,I started singing all the time and then people would ask me to be quiet.
Das: The opportunity to be able to improvise and put my own stamp on the character was one of the reasons I signed this movie. Adi (Aditya Chopra) was very clear that he wanted it to be a youthful movie,so we were all encouraged to do our own things and improvise.