Lara Dutta on Having to Call Naseeruddin ‘Buddha' in 'Kaun Banegi Shikharwati'

The Zee5 series 'Kaun Banegi Shikharwati' stars Lara Dutta, Soha Ali Khan, Kritika Kamra, and Anya Singh.

Lara Dutta plays Naseeruddin Shah's character's eldest daughter Devyani in Kaun Banegi Shikharwati.

(Photo Courtesy: YouTube/ IMDb)

Lara Dutta opened up about her upcoming series Kaun Banegi Shikharwati and working with Raghubir Yadav and Naseeruddin Shah. She also talked about playing the role of Indira Gandhi in BellBottom and how she is ‘past the phase’ where she wanted to play the lead.

Talking to PTI, Lara Dutta said, “It is the content that is being made, what the character is doing is what excites me. I have gone long past the phase where I want to play the lead or the prime character, because at the end of the day, I genuinely feel you will be limiting yourself greatly if you are going to come with that mindset.”

Dutta had received a lot of praise for her transformation to play former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the Akshay Kumar-starrer BellBottom.

Dutta said, “There are some incredible characters that leave an indelible mark on your mind, long after a show or a film is over. Playing Mrs Gandhi in BellBottom is a fine example, where the film was led by a top hero. But I knew if I had the opportunity to play her, I would do it in a way she would never be forgotten on screen.”

Kaun Banegi Shikharwati has been directed by Gauravv Chawla and Ananya Banerjee and follows the story of an eccentric king who sets up challenges for his four daughters to decide his heir. Lara Dutta plays the role of the eldest daughter Devyani and Soha Ali Khan, Kritika Kamra, and Anya Singh play Gayatri, Kamini, and Uma respectively.

Lara Dutta told PTI, “So their coming together to play these games with each other, leads to a lot of comedy, fun, and quirkiness. I loved the opportunity to step into a world like that. Have this crazy family led by an eccentric king.”

She added that the show sounded ‘different from anything that was on OTT’ and added that the series is set ‘almost in a Wes Anderson type of a world’. Dutta further said that she was skeptical about a scene wherein she had to call Raghubir and Naseeruddin ‘buddhe’ (old).

Dutta recalled, “I have a line on the show, where I look at Raghubir ji and Naseer saab and say, ‘Kya tum dono buddhe paagal ho gaye ho?’ (Have both of you old men lost your mind). I was like, I just can’t say this to them, I said ‘Can we please rewrite it?’ But both of them were like, ‘Just have fun with it.'”

The show is set to release on 7 January on Zee5.