Popular actor Hina Khan’s latest film Unlock: The Haunted App released on ZEE5 on Saturday. Also starring Kushal Tandon, the film is a thriller, depicting the dark side of the web space. In an exclusive chat with indianexpress.com, the Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai actor opened up about her project, working during the lockdown and the three wishes that she would want to unlock for herself.
Here are some excerpts from the conversation
What is Unlock all about?
Unlock unveils the dark side of the digital space. The story focuses on my character Suhani who gets sucked into this dark space. Because she wants to fulfill some of her desires, she comes across the ‘Unlock’ app. What the app makes her do, is what the film focuses on. Shooting for Unlock was a very taxing experience. A lot of the scenes involved blood and some not-so-appealing scenarios, which really did take a toll on me. I honestly didn’t sleep well throughout the shoot as I was shooting such hard-hitting and heavy sequences.
When you do a dark role or project, does it get tough for you to get out of it? How do you switch off?
I take a break when I need to switch off from these kinds of roles. That’s the best way for me to unwind. The last time I wanted to unwind after my work, I had gone on a holiday.
This is the first time you are paired opposite Kushal Tandon. How was the experience working with him?
Kushal is a great guy, and we had a good time working together. He was always laughing and cracking jokes on set. As I would end up correcting him sometimes, he started calling me ‘Teacher’ (laughs). All in good spirit and fun.
You dubbed for the movie amid the coronavirus scare, how was the experience?
Yes, there was a bit of dubbing left for the film, for which I had to step out of the house. It was definitely a bit scary and unnerving, but I ensured that I take all precautionary measures. I also tried not to think too much about it, as that actually causes more fear.
Your last few projects, Hacked and Damaged 2, also belonged to a similar genre. Don’t you fear being boxed into similar stories?
Hacked was about cybercrime, but Damaged 2 was a completely different story. So Unlock is my second project in the same space, but again the concept being showcased through this film has never been explored before in the Indian OTT space. Hence, it is something that I am very excited for the viewers to see.
You are sporting a new look in Unlock. How much do you contribute to your look or do you just follow the stylist?
Putting together this look required a lot of brainstorming from the entire team. The team was entirely focussed on ensuring that my character ‘Suhani’ dresses and looks in a particular way to fit her personality, and after a lot of experimentation with various hairstyles we finalized on the one that is being shown. While the creatives know best about how they want the character to look and shape up, there are times when I too give in my inputs according to how I feel that particular look would suit me.
If given a chance to ‘unlock’ three of your desires, what would it be?
In my school, we had a chapter in Hindi where a couple gets a chance to eat three laddoos to get their wishes fulfilled. They waste it on materialistic things, when a voice tells them that the first thing one should have asked for is happiness. I completely believe in the same and feel that if you are happy, you have everything. So that would be my first wish. The second, of course, would be that we all get over this pandemic, and things go back to normal. There are people who don’t even have money for their next meal. I would want this to get over soon so everyone can go back to work. The third wish – if given an opportunity I would love to play a superhero character, something like Wonder Woman. I really want to do something like that.
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