Mouni Roy on digital debut with London Confidential, shooting with Purab Kohli and more

Mouni Roy is all set to make her digital debut with the upcoming Zee5 film, London Confidential. The movie is now out on the streaming platform and while it is a spy thriller, it is based on post-pandemic period and has been completely shot in London. We got in touch with the actress about the film, shooting with Purab Kohli, and others.

Excerpts from the conversation...

This is your digital debut, what made you pick this over others?

Whatever was offered, I think I liked this story the best, it is always the story and your character - as it always comes down to that. Even when I read the script, first of all, it felt very relevant in today's time and I've not really played a RAW agent, that is also something that I thought will be very interesting and thrilling and challenging at the same time. 

You have expressed your excitement around working with Purab after 2014, how easy was it working with him and the team?

So we shot very quickly, the whole film was shot in a little over a month and there was very little time for prep work. Though it was really nice and we had a lot of fun, there was a lot of work to do and in a very different space. Because only one department could work on the set at a given point of time trying to follow the protocol procedure, so Purab, I, and the other character just sit and first rehearse and work it out, and make changes where necessary, so that's how it was.

Speaking about Purab, he is an amazing human being, a great co-star to work with. I am a very restless person and he is like this 'shant' human being and if I get nervous sometimes, he'll be like we will sit and work it out. It was a great experience working with him as well as Kanwal sir.

What kind of homework and prep went into the character and the shoot given the ongoing pandemic among other things?

To get into the skin of the character, there were a lot of zoom calls that were done, me and the director. The first time that I read the script, there were many changes happening in a lot of scenes and we would sit and kind of sketch out a back story for Uma, why she is how she is, and we went over the purpose of everything while also establishing the relation with adjacent characters that were there, so basically humanize it. 

The film is a thriller, but it also focuses on emotional baggage, having a woman taking center stage..how does everything fall into place on-screen?

In fact, if anything, the story is a no-nonsense, cut to cut one. There are these killings that are happening and there is rumour about this new virus wherein both Arjun and Uma are trying to extract that information, that is pretty much how the story was dealt with.

This is a different space for you as an actress, did it feel any different given the constant comparisons between platforms?

You know I am asked that question very often, maybe there are technical changes like there are no songs, you know, but except that I haven't seen any changes. I genuinely believe, be it any profession, even if you talk about films and OTT, where the one you see in the theatres while the other, you can watch in your own living room, bit except that, it is just these technicalities. There is no shortcut to hard work and in the profession, you have to give that kind of time and effort because you are creating art, and it is like an orchestra, where everything needs to come together.

Anything that you are looking to explore in particular?

I am very open to playing all characters and in fact, I feel that OTT has given us such different stories and characters to play, so I am looking forward to playing great parts, be a part of good storytelling. Personally, I have always wanted to be a part of a broadway musical, like an Indian classical dancer.