'I felt like a newcomer': Kareena Kapoor on Meghna Gulzar's command on 'Daayra' sets

Actor Kareena Kapoor Khan on Friday said filmmaker Meghna Gulzar's command on the sets of their upcoming film "Daayra" made her feel like a newcomer despite having spent 26 years in the film industry.

Kareena stars as a cop alongside actor Prithviraj Sukumaran in Meghna's new movie, which will make its debut in theatres on September 18.

Kareena says Meghna made her feel like a newcomer

Describing the director as a “taskmaster”, Kareena said Meghna's ability to maintain discipline while being warm and kind made her approach the shoot with a sense of responsibility.

"She knows how to keep everyone under control. She’s loving, kind, but still, on the sets, she has command. I’ve worked with several directors in my 26-year career but with Meghna I was always like, ‘I’ve to be always in check’,” Kapoor told reporters at a promotional event for the movie.

The actor said she would even reach the sets ahead of time to ensure she did not upset the director.

“I would arrive on set half an hour early because I don’t want Meghna to get upset about anything. After 26 years, to have that feeling, I felt like a newcomer. That’s what keeps us going as actors,” she added.

What 'Daayra' is about

Inspired by true events, the film unfolds in the aftermath of a crime that grips the nation, sparking widespread outrage while setting a series of events and two investigations in motion.

As the search for answers deepens, two senior police officers -- Ajooni (Kareena) and Raman (Prithviraj) -- navigate the same system through different approaches to duty and justice, on opposing sides of a case that challenges the idea of right and wrong.

Kareena on changing her acting style

Kareena said playing Ajooni required her to suppress the expressive style synonymous with her.

“For most of my shots the camera was always on my face but my legs were always shaking as I would wonder, ‘Woh Bebo (her nick name) wala expression kab aayega’ and she’d be like, ‘No’ (not needed). It has added a different dimension to my personality,” she said.

The actor joked that she made up for all the restraint Gulzar demanded during the shoot at the film’s trailer launch last month, when she went all out for the cameras and gave “a hundred expressions”.

Kapoor recalled attempting to negotiate with the director over her clothes for the character, only to be turned down.

“I would tell Meghna, ‘Can we just tighten the clothes a bit because they are very loose?’ and she would be like, ‘No, I don’t want to see anything of her figure’,” she said, praising Meghna’s attention to detail and calling her a “powerful filmmaker”.

“I feel there are very few directors who create milieu and atmosphere. When you walk into a Meghna Gulzar film, you have to surrender, soak in, and immerse yourself in it,” she added.

Prithviraj's physical transformation concerns Meghna

At the event, Prithivraj said he had informed Meghna that he would look bigger while shooting “Daayra” as he was undergoing a physical transformation for his upcoming film “Varanasi”, directed by S S Rajamouli.

However, the physical transformation became a matter of concern for the director.

Meghna said, “For the first costume trial I told him, ‘I don’t want that typical buffed up policeman with the biceps,’ and he said, ‘Yes, fine.’ On the first day, it was fine, besides, you don’t realise it while shooting. At the edit, ‘I’m like, ‘What is going on with the sleeves? (referring to his bulked-up muscles)."

Gulzar praises Kareena and Prithviraj

Meghna’s father, veteran poet-lyricist-filmmaker Gulzar, was also present at the event and praised the two lead actors for their performance in “Daayra”.

“I couldn’t speak for a while, I was absorbing it. It was still sinking in. It raises a series of questions. I had not watched Prithvi’s work before, and I was like ‘I’m with this character’,” Gulzar said.

“With regards to Kareena, I had seen her work, and she was one of those actresses for whom I felt, ‘I did not get a chance to work with her’. I know her family well, I’ve seen Saif being raised in front of me. The characters were pure and so were the performances. I was like, ‘How composed she is?’. I experienced two great performances,” the 92-year-old icon said.

“Daayra” is produced by Junglee Pictures and Pen Studios.