In an industry often shadowed by ego clashes and star hierarchies, Dhurandhar: The Revenge actor Manav Gohil offers a refreshing perspective. Speaking about sharing screen space with heavyweights like Ranveer Singh and R Madhavan, Manav opens up about the atmosphere on set and whether insecurities ever crept in. His answer? A resounding no. Instead, he paints a picture of a collaborative, ego-free environment driven purely by craft.
On the absence of insecurity on set, Manav praised both R Madhavan & Ranveer Singh. “I think we were all on one page in terms of the script and the screenplay. We had different standings in society when we stepped out, but inside the hub, we were all characters. My maximum scenes were with Madhavan. And I’ve learned from him that he’s such a secure actor. He’s a very secure actor. He used to give me his lines and say 'maybe Manav should say this line'. He took a line out of his own script and said, ‘Okay, yeah, let’s give this to Manav because it’ll look better,’ because then there’s a conversation. So I do think Madhavan is a gem. Even Ranveer - there’s no insecurity. They’re not territorial. And I’ve seen territorial actors in my career. Even on TV, I’ve seen territorial actors. But here I see a secure actor like Ranveer - he’s so chill. He’s all heart. He will not speak to you like he’s The Ranveer Singh. He’ll hold you and say, ‘Manav sir, what a scene.’ He’s so like a child, which is so beautiful. And you can make out that he’s actually like that - he means it.”
Calling R Madhavan his elder brother, Manav further said, "Madhavan is like an elder brother. He’ll hold your hand when you think you need it. He will tell you that this is good and help you with scenes. When you're stuck, he will come forward and say, ‘Try doing it like this, and that sounds better now.’ So, he just helps you out like a genuine, true artist. So it was a very creative process for all of us, and there was no agenda hidden behind that.”
The actor also credited director Aditya Dhar for maintaining mutual respect and security amongst actors on set. “In the case of Dhurandhar, I’d like to say that what has percolated down the line is the intent and sincerity of the script and direction by Aditya. He is so clear and so poised that that actually is a reflection of who he is - this film, the texture of it. And hence, every actor was in sync because he was very clear with it.”
