Sharman Joshi with Tanushree Dutta in Dhol

Sharman Joshi has come a long, long way. After doing comedy in B-movies like N. Chandra’s Style and Excuse Me, he went on to do Rohit Shetty’s fun film Golmaal and now he is doing a film with the master of comedy, Priyadarshan. Dhol can just be another feather in the cap for the man who won many hearts as Rahul in Anurag Basu’s Life in a... Metro.

“I have been wanting to work forever with Priyadarshan,” he tells t2. “And finally I got this chance with Dhol. It was an absolute pleasure. He is a master craftsman. He is a man of few words but the way he works on the nuances of his actors is just brilliant. It’s so satisfying at the end of it all.”

Not surprisingly, Sharman is the most forthcoming amongst the entire cast and crew of Dhol as to what actually happens in the movie. “It’s a comic thriller,” he says. “The comedy is completely situational. It revolves around four guys who are basically good for nothing. But all of them have a shot at this girl, unsuccessfully, and finally they realise that the easiest way to get the girl is to get rich. And in the process of doing that they get entangled in a murder mystery. Now whether they get out of it or not is largely what the film is about.”

This is obviously not the first time that Sharman is part of male-heavy ensemble cast. Whether it’s Rang De Basanti or Life in a... Metro he is used to being one of many men in the movie. “It raises the bar when there are such good performers around you,” he says. “The scene itself becomes very good. You are just supposed to stick to your job and do what your role demands. The moment you try and stand out amongst the crowd you wouldn’t be doing justice to the scene or the film in totality.”

But doesn’t Dhol look too much like Golmaal where too Sharman was one among four guys trying to catch a girl’s attention? Even Tusshar features in both the films. “Both are comedies and both have four actors in the lead. That’s where the similarity ends,” Sharman protests. “The screenplays are completely different and once you see the film you will know what I mean.”

Sharman points out that despite all similarities the way the comedy is played out in a Priyadarshan film is completely different from any other comedy. “The approach is so different,” he says. “It depends from film to film but as far as Dhol goes it depends completely on the situations. As actors, you can stay true to the moment and not do anything extra to evoke laughter. If you are honest and truthful to the situation, it will automatically be funny. None of the processes is easy. Both have their own challenges and they have to be met.”

After Dhol, Sharman will be seen in another role which has comic shades — Atul Agnihotri’s adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s One Night At The Call Centre.